| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
17 Jul 2003 : Column 534W—continued
Deferred Pensions
Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost of paying the basic state pension, deferred by five years, at (a) 110.4 per cent., (b) 120 per cent., (c) 130 per cent., (d) 140 per cent. and (e) 150 per cent. assuming the number of people choosing to defer their pension remains unchanged. [97663]
Malcolm Wicks: For every year a person defers drawing their State Pension, they are entitled to receive increases of 7½ percentage points.
This rate is due to increase to 10.4 percentage points in 2010. In the 2002 Pensions Green Paper Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement (Cm 5677) it was announced that the government was consulting on whether this increase should be brought forward.
The following table shows the additional cost in selected years if we were to increase the deferral rate from 2004, assuming the number of people choosing to defer their State Pension remains unchanged.
Notes:
1. Costs include the effect of increasing the deferral rate to 10.4 per cent. in 2010, as detailed in 1995 Pensions Act
2. Figures shown in million in 2003–04 price terms
3. Figures for 2004 and 2005 rounded to nearest £1 million. Figures for 2010 and later rounded to nearest £5 million.
17 Jul 2003 : Column 535W
Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost has been to the Exchequer of deferred pensions, in (a) cash and (b) real terms, over the last 10 years. [97665]
Malcolm Wicks: The answer is not available in the format requested.
Prior to 1999, the amount of inherited increments in payment was not recorded and so we cannot accurately estimate the total expenditure on increments before 1999. Such information as is available is shown in the following table.
| Year | Cash | Real |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 450 | 460 |
| 2001 | 450 | 470 |
| 2000 | 450 | 470 |
| 1999 | 450 | 490 |
Notes:
(a) Cash terms refer to the annual cost of paying all forms of increments, based upon administrative data from 30th September of each year.
(b) Real terms are calculated by taking the level of the Retail Price Index in September of each year and uprating to the level of the April 2003 Retail Price Index level.
Results include both Great Britain and overseas cases.
Figures rounded to nearest £10 million.
Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have deferred their pension in each of the last five years by up to (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years and (e) five years. [97666]
Malcolm Wicks: It is not possible say how many people are deferring their State Pension at a single point in time because it is not necessary to inform the Department for Work and Pensions of an intention to defer. Administrative data only records people after they have finished their deferral and claimed State Pension.
The duration of deferral for pensioners who are now in receipt of State Pension has been calculated based upon the amount of increments in payment, from which the duration of deferral is calculated.
The following table shows the number of people aged five years over State Pension age who receive State Pension including increments, along with the duration of their deferral period.
Notes:
1. Based upon administrative data from September 2002
2. Numbers relate to men aged 70 and women aged 65
3. Numbers exclude people in receipt of inherited increments only
4. Numbers include recipients of a State Pension in Great Britain and overseas
5. Numbers rounded to nearest 1,000
6. People who have still not claimed their State Pension by the age of 65 (women) or 70 (men) are not included in the table above
17 Jul 2003 : Column 536W
Ductile Iron Gas Mains
Mr. Heyes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who owns the medium pressure ductile iron gas mains within 30 metres of buildings reported to HSE in response to its October 2002 warning to gas transporters other than Transco; where these are located; what programme of remedial measures the HSE has agreed with the owners; and what deadline has been set by HSE for completion of this programme. [120477]
Mr. Browne: Transco notified HSE of 35 sites which might contain medium pressure ductile iron (MPDI) gas pipework. The sites were in public or private ownership and in many parts of the country. HSE inspectors wrote individually to each site requiring a response within an eight week deadline. A third of the sites reported that they had no MPDI pipework or had already removed it. No common timescale for action was set at the remaining sites but a remedial programme is being agreed for individual sites, based on the information in the returned proformas and risk assessment. Additionally a further 12 sites where MPDI pipework was suspected have been made known to HSE and the same approach for action is being applied.
Getting clearance for the release under the Open Government Code of the list of organisations and sites that HSE is following up is a complex matter and cannot be accomplished within the timescale required. However, I will write to my hon. Friend with a summary of the results of HSE's work, when this is complete and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
E-government
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list by project the consultancies his Department and its non-departmental bodies have used on e-Government projects since 1 January 2001. [122271]
Maria Eagle: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare, (Brian Cotter) on 22 May 2003, Official Report, columns 920–21W.
Two consultancies were mistakenly omitted from the table in my earlier answer. The complete list is as follows.
17 Jul 2003 : Column 537W
Environmental Appraisals
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the Department's policies have been screened for their environmental impact since June 2001; how many environmental appraisals have been conducted, and on what policy issues; and what information has been published about these screenings and appraisals. [124719]
Mr. Pond: No environmental appraisals have been undertaken since June 2001. Guidance on how to conduct an initial environmental screening is available to the Department's officials and formal arrangements are being finalised for recording the results of these and any subsequent appraisals that are required. A round of formal training events on incorporating sustainable development into all decision-making is under way across the Department and its Executive Agencies. When any screenings or appraisals are undertaken in the future, the results will be published in the DWP Annual Sustainable Development Report.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |