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8 Jul 2003 : Column 761W—continued
Pension Service
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many telephone calls on average have been received per day by (a) the Norwich Pension Service office and (b) Pension Service offices across the UK in the last three months; [121499]
- (2) what the average length of time for completion of a new claim for means-tested benefits is (a) at the Norwich Pension Service office, (b) at the Pension Service broken down by county and (c) across the UK; [121496]
(3) what the average length of time is for written correspondence relating to claims for means-tested benefits to be dealt with by (a) the Norwich Pension Service office and (b) Pension Service offices across the UK. [121498]
Malcolm Wicks: The customer service standards have been published in The Pension Service Business Plan. They have been set to ensure pensioners receive their entitlements on time.
Across England, Scotland and Wales the average number of calls received per day in the last three months was 65,546 and at Norwich pension centre 2,554.
The average length of time for completion of a minimum income guarantee claim by Norwich Pension Centre is 16.4 days and across England, Scotland and Wales is 12.4 days. Figures are not held by county as the Pension Service is organised by Government Office regions.
The average length of time for completion of correspondence relating to claims for minimum income guarantee by Norwich Pension Centre is 5.3 days and across England, Scotland and Wales is 3.5 days.
Our aim is to continue to improve the service we provide and to balance telephony and processing performance.
Poverty
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the impact of the (a) minimum income guarantee and (b) pension credit on pensioner poverty. [124196]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government wants all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement. The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG), introduced in April 1999, has boosted the income of the poorest pensioners. Since April 2003 a single pensioner is nearly £18 a week better off in real terms than in 1997 from the MIG rises. A pensioner couple is nearly £28 a week better off. We also want everyone who is entitled
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to this help to get it now, and as a result of our national MIG take up campaign over 150,000 pensioners are £20 a week better off.
Pension Credit when it is introduced in October 2003 will go even further and for the first time reward, not penalise, those pensioners who have saved for their retirement. Pensioner households entitled to Pension Credit will be £400 a year better off on average. Following the introduction of Pension Credit the average pensioner household will be over £1,250 a year better off than in 1997 due to the Governments personal tax and benefit changes. To ensure maximum take up of Pension Credit we are writing to pensioner households to explain Pension Credit and invite applications. In addition around 1.8 million people in receipt of the Minimum Income Guarantee have been advised they will be transferred automatically to Pension Credit. There will also be regional and national TV and press advertising.
Senior Departmental Posts
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior departmental posts were advertised in each year since June 1999; and how many of those were advertised in the Scottish press. [120666]
Maria Eagle: Senior posts are defined as those posts that are covered by open competition to the senior civil service.
The Department for Work and Pensions was formed on 8 June 2001 from parts of the former Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment. The figures prior to 8 June 2001 are in the table and relate to the Department of Social Security only.
| Number of posts externally advertised | |
|---|---|
| June 1999 to March 2000 | 3 |
| April 2000 to March 2001 | 7 |
| April 2001 to March 2002 | 11 |
| April 2002 to March 2003 | 29 |
| April 2003 to June 2003 | 5 |
None of the adverts were placed in specific Scottish newspapers as the circulation of the national press includes Scotland.
Stakeholder Schemes
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of companies which, under the regulations introduced on 8 October 2001, (a) are obliged to provide and (b) have so far failed to offer access to a stakeholder scheme; and what plans he has to ensure that employers who have not complied with the requirement to offer a stakeholder scheme do so. [123323]
Malcolm Wicks: We estimate that around 350,000 employers are required to provide their staff with access to a stakeholder pension scheme. Latest data from the Association of British Insurers show that 344,983 employers had designated a stakeholder pension scheme by the end of March 2003. This indicates a compliance rate in excess of 90 per cent.
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The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) is responsible for regulating compliance with the workplace access requirements for stakeholder pension schemes. OPRA follows up all reports to it of non-compliance and will take action where compliance has not been achieved. OPRA also takes action to seek out non-compliance through surveys of employers, and by following up any employers that it knows, through its general pension duties, have closed down their company scheme and may therefore become required to offer staff access to a stakeholder pension scheme.
Stress
Mr. Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what regulatory impact assessment his Department has made of the Health and Safety Executive's new code of conduct on stress at work; [121266]
- (2) what estimate his Department has made of the cost to business of compliance with the Health and Safety Executive's code of conduct to combat stress in (a) financial terms and (b) lost man hours. [121267]
Mr. Browne: The Health and Safety Executive have not launched a new code of conduct on stress at work. On 16 June 2003, they published draft management standards on work related stress seeking feedback to inform their development. They are currently being piloted and the final standards will be published after consultation. The standards will be a voluntary yardstick by which employers can measure how well they are managing stress in the workplace. Information collected during the consultation phase will be used to inform development of the Regulatory Impact Assessment.
Sustainable Development
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment is made (a) of the environmental impact and (b) against sustainable development criteria of bids for grants awarded by his Department; who makes any such assessment; and whether these assessments are published. [119128]
Maria Eagle: Although the Department for Work and Pensions provides grants in-aid to certain third parties such as the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA), the Disability Rights Commission, Independent Living Fund and Motability, it does not issue grants which are open to the external bidding process other than those made to individual benefit recipients as part of social security provision. The specific nature of the Department's grants make it inappropriate to conduct any assessments of environmental impact or sustainable development criteria.
Winter Fuel Payments
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate his Department's expenditure on winter fuel payments over the last five years; and what money was made available for investment in programmes to achieve affordable warmth over the same period. [123490]
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Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table.
| Winter | Expenditure |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 194 |
| 1999–2000 | 759 |
| 2000–01 | 1,749 |
| 2001–02 | 1,692 |
| 2002–03 | 1,712 |
The UK Fuel Poverty Strategy sets out a wide range of programmes to contribute to tackling fuel poverty by improving the comfort of vulnerable households. These include Warm Front and the Energy Efficiency Commitment 2002–05 under which energy suppliers must focus 50 per cent. of their energy saving target on low-income families.
In England, the main Government expenditure is through the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme, now marketed as Warm Front. It is estimated that from April 1998 to March 2003, approximately £577 million has been spent on Warm Front grants. Similar schemes operate in Scotland and Wales.
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost of extending the winter fuel payment to the poorest and most vulnerable households who qualify for cold weather payments; and whether his Department plans such a measure. [123491]
Malcolm Wicks: Most people receiving income support including minimum income guarantee or income-based jobseeker's allowance who are aged 60 or over already receive winter fuel payments.
If winter fuel payments were extended to other people who meet the criteria for cold weather payments, regardless of whether the temperature fell low enough to trigger payment of a cold weather payment to that household, the additional annual cost would be around £300 million.
We have no plans to extend the winter fuel payment scheme.
- Note:
- Figure rounded to nearest £50 million and calculated from administrative data.
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to transform the winter fuel payments into a universal benefit; and if he will make a statement. [123493]
Malcolm Wicks: The winter fuel payment scheme was introduced to help the most vulnerable older people meet their heating costs during the winter months. The payments are already available to almost all people aged 60 or over.
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