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17 Jul 2003 : Column 522W—continued
Benefit Costs
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost per claimant was of administering each of the major benefits in the last 12 months. [125409]
Malcolm Wicks:
Information is not available in the format requested. In accordance with the requirements of Resource Accounting and Budgeting the Department now accounts for its administration and benefit expenditure by strategic objective, as set out in its Public
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Service Agreements (PSA), and by individual requests for resources (RfRs), as set out in the Department's Estimates and Accounts.
Benefit Errors
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have had (a) their state pension and (b) other benefits incorrectly deducted after a hospital stay lasting more than six weeks since 9 March. [126851]
Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available.
Benefit Fraud
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff are responsible for detection of benefit fraud, broken down by region; what change has been made in the level of such staff in the last six months, broken down by region; on what basis the decision was made to change staff levels; and if he will make a statement. [123041]
Mr. Pond: The overall aim of the Department's anti-fraud strategy is to have a benefit system which is secure from first claim to final payment. The implementation of this strategy means than an anti-fraud focus is integral to the work of all staff in the Department, as is dealing with the wider agenda of error and incorrectness in benefit payments.
The information currently available suggests that around 5,000 staff are employed at any one time by the Department and its agencies in work to investigate suspicions of fraud. Information on changes made in the level of such staff in the last six months is not available
Benefit/Pension Payments
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants in each benefit client group who have been sent direct payment invitation letters have opened (a) normal bank or building society accounts, (b) basic bank accounts and (c) Post Office Card Accounts. [123296]
Mr. Pond: Information is not available in the format requested.
I refer the hon. Member for Northavon to the table of latest key figures on the progress of conversion to Direct Payment placed in the Commons Library on 7 July 2003.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants in each benefit client group have been sent direct payment invitation letters; and for each of those groups how many have (a) opted for payment via a normal bank account or building society account, (b) opted for payment via a basic bank account, (c) opted for payment via a post office card account, (d) responded indicating that they wish to continue using order books and (e) not responded. [123322]
Mr. Pond:
I refer the hon. Member to the table of latest key figures on the progress of conversion to direct payment placed in the Library on 7 July 2003.
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In addition to these figures 26,488 customers have indicated that they do not wish to be paid by direct payment. Of these, 20,509 are child benefit customers, 350 are Veteran Agency customers, 3,783 are pension customers, and 1,846 are Jobcentre Plus customers. Those customers who are paid by order book will for the meantime continue to be paid this way. However, order books will eventually be phased out and we will need to make payment by another method.
So far, 821,713 customers have yet to respond. This consists of 503,456 child benefit customers, 11,360 Veterans Agency customers, 118,194 pension service customers, and 188,703 Jobcentre Plus customers.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many customers (a) will and (b) will not be paid by direct payment if the Department meets its public service agreement target to pay 85 per cent. of customers via bank accounts by 2005; and if he will make a statement; [124014]
(2) what his target is for the (a) number and (b) proportion of customers receiving benefits by direct payment by 31 December 2005: [124016]
(3) pursuant to his answer of 16 May 2003, Official Report, column 440W, and 20 May 2003, Official Report, column 753W, what method of payment his Department plans to use to pay the 15 per cent. of customers that may not be being paid by direct payment by the end of 2005, following the completion of the phasing out of order books by that date; and if he will make a statement. [124100]
Mr. Pond: The Department has a published Public Service Agreement that by 2005, 85 per cent. of customers will have their benefits paid by Direct Payment. Already 87 per cent. of all customers and 90 per cent. of pensioners have access to a bank account that can receive direct payment. We expect that more than 85 per cent. of customers will provide us with their bank account details or choose a Post Office card account. Everyone will be able to access their money at the Post Office if they wish—just as they do now.
We have always recognised that there will be a small group of people who we cannot pay directly into an account. We will develop an alternative method to pay this group, which can be accessed at Post Office branches.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether customers who have more than one carer or a number of irregular carers will be able to nominate more than one such person to collect their benefit from the Post Office, following the transfer to direct payment; and if he will make a statement; [124017]
(2) pursuant to the statement made by the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Pond) of 9 July 2003, Official Report, column 310WH, whether it is his policy that all pensioners and benefit recipients with more than one carer should be able to use the exceptions service; and if he will make a statement. [125961]
Mr. Pond
[holding answer 15 July 2003]: Customers will be supplied with information that clearly sets out their account options and will enable them to choose the account which best meets their needs and circumstances.
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If they have more than one carer or a number of irregular carers customers may find that accounts that offer cheque books/building society passbooks provide more flexibility.
We are currently looking to find the best way to meet the needs of people who have no regular carer or helper. Where people need help to collect their money they will, for the meantime, be allowed to keep their order book.
We have always recognised that there will be a small group of people who we cannot pay directly into an account. We will develop an alternative method to pay this group, which can be accessed at Post Office branches.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been contacted following a failure to respond to an invitation to transfer to direct payment; and of those, what proportion responded to this further contact. [124019]
Mr. Pond: Information is not available in the format requested.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Coventry have converted to direct payment of their benefits and pensions. [125354]
Mr. Pond: The following table shows the breakdown of claimants in Coventry that have converted to direct payment of their benefits and pensions in the past six months.
| Number of claimants | |
|---|---|
| January 2003-March 2003 | 843 |
| April 2003-June 2003 | 1,371 |
Notes:
1. The above figures are payload not caseload figures therefore, a claimant may be counted more than once if they are on several benefits.
2. If a claimant is receiving one combined payment through the Income Support system for both MIG and RP they will only be shown on MIG and not on RP.
3. Data is only available on a monthly basis, with parliamentary constituency from December 2002.
4. Figures quoted are for Coventry North East, Coventry North West and Coventry South combined.
Source:
DWP Information Centre, Information and Analysis Directorate (100 per cent. data).
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 25 June 2003, Official Report, column 837W, on benefits, how many consolatory payments were made to customers for gross inconvenience or severe distress as a result of official errors; and what the (a) total and (b) average award was in each of the last 10 years. [126392]
Mr. Pond:
The special payments scheme was revised in 1997 to introduce consolatory payments for inconvenience and distress. Information on payments made under the previous redress arrangements is not available.
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The available information is in the tables.
| Total payments made | Total amount paid | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 123 | 29,525 |
| 1998–99 | 302 | 80,544 |
| 1999–2000 | 693 | 82,637 |
Notes:
1. Consolatory payments were not recorded by category prior to 2000–01.
2. Payments in 2000–01 and preceding years were made by the former Benefits Agency and War Pensions Agency.
3. Payments in 2001–02 were made by the former Benefits Agency only following the transfer of War Pensions Agency (now the Veterans Agency) to the Ministry of Defence.
4. Payments in 2002–03 were made by Jobcentre Plus, The Pension Service and Disability and Carers Service.
5. Figures prior to 2002–03 do not include any payments for redress made by the former Employment Service.
6. As some customers will have received consolatory payments for both the inconvenience caused and the distress suffered, information on the average payment made to an individual is not available.
Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he has issued to his Department regarding making benefit and pension payments to clients who fail to open a bank or Post Office card account and whose current order books have expired. [126276]
Mr. Pond: Around 87 per cent. of customers already have bank accounts. And for those who do not, new easy to operate accounts, which are accessible at the Post Office, are widely available. Those customers who have yet to respond to their invitation and whose current order books have expired will, for the meantime, continue to be paid by this method, until order books are eventually phased out in 2005.
We have always recognised that there will be a small group of people who we cannot pay directly into an account, and the Department is committed to developing an alternative method to pay this group.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which his Department cold-calls customers in connection with the transfer to direct payment; and in what circumstances his Department cold-calls customers to invite them to receive payment via bank accounts when they have already opted for a Post Office card account. [126811]
Mr. Pond:
Initial contact with any customer is made either by letter, or in the case of some Jobcentre Plus customers, face-to-face as part of normal business.
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There is no attempt to persuade customers away from the Post Office card account. Customers will be provided with information on all of their banking options. It is for the customer to decide on the best option to suit their needs.
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