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18 Sept 2003 : Column 901W—continued

Benefit Applications

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff (a) from his Department and (b) not from his Department are available to undertake home visits to deal with (i) pension credit applications and (ii) all benefit applications. [128744]

Malcolm Wicks: Latest data show that there are 1,867 (whole time equivalent) field staff in The Pension Service local service who are available to undertake home visits. They handle applications for all benefits relating to older people, including pension credit. There are varying numbers of staff from organisations with whom we have partnering arrangements who are able to provide information about pension credit and other benefits.

Benefit Repayments

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount of money that is not repaid as a result of benefits sent to people who have subsequently died; and what steps he is taking to reform the system. [128704]

Mr. Pond [holding answer 15 September 2003]: As part of our modernisation programme, measures are underway to provide greater focus and specialisation in benefit debt management through the establishment of dedicated benefit debt centres. We are already seeing improvements in increased debt recovery and reduction in outstanding debt.

At 31 March 2003, the total outstanding overpaid benefit paid for a period following the death of a benefit recipient was estimated to be £7.73 million. We normally

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seek to recover this type of overpayment, but where recovery is not possible, the overpayment is written off.

Source:

Department for Work and Pensions Debt Management System

Benefits Agency

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will establish individual e-mail addresses for each benefit office so that MI12 forms can be e-mailed to the Benefits Agency. [129874]

Mr. Pond: All benefit offices do have e-mail addresses. However, due to the insecure nature of normal e-mail and the need to guarantee the security of personal data we cannot use this method to exchange information relating to individual benefit claims.

Business Insurance

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish the follow up report on Business Insurance. [130929]

Mr. Browne: In the Autumn.

The First Stage Report on Employers' Liability insurance was published by the Department in June. Action in relation to Employers' Liability includes both immediate initiatives and longer-term policy choices. In the timing of our further report, we have to strike a balance between a desire to report immediate action quickly and allowing time to reflect longer-term developments.

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will work more closely with trade bodies representing the insurance and construction trades on issues relating to insurance. [130930]

Mr. Browne: As part of our work on Employers Liability insurance, Ministers and officials have met a range of insurance and construction industry interests. These have included: the Association of British Insurers, individual insurance companies, the British Insurance Brokers Association, the Federation of Master Builders, the Construction Confederation, the Federation of Small Builders, Scottish Building, and the National Federation of Roofing Contractors. Further meetings are planned.

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action his Department plans to take as a result of his assessment of the effect on small and medium-sized enterprises of large increases in insurance premiums. [130931]

Mr. Browne: The First Stage Report into Employers' Liability Insurance published by my Department in June identified a number of areas for further consideration and action. These included: renewals and risk-related premiums; long-tail occupational disease; the cost of resolving claims; rehabilitation; and enforcement. Both the Government and stakeholders have continued to work on these issues and the Government will report in the autumn on the progress that is being made and any further steps we intend to take. We continue to work closely with the Small Business Service and representatives of small and medium-sized businesses on these issues.

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Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward the planned publication date of the Department's report on business insurance by the construction industry. [130932]

Mr. Browne: Davis Langdon Consultancy undertook a scoping study for the Construction Sector Unit of the Department for Trade and Industry looking at the difficulties construction contractors face in obtaining insurance. This report was published in January 2003.

The aim of the study was to provide DTI with a clear understanding of the nature and extent of the difficulties facing contractors in obtaining and maintaining adequate insurance. The report aimed to provide perspective on construction specific aspects of the issue and to add value to the work of other studies in this area such as the DWP Employers' liability review.

We are not currently undertaking any further construction specific reports. However, the Government will be reporting in the autumn on the progress that has been made more generally on Employers Liability insurance (in which there is a keen construction sector interest) and on the further steps it intends to take.

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of long-tail insurance on the levels of employers' liability compulsory insurance. [130933]

Mr. Browne: The issue of 'long-tail' risks was considered as part of the First Stage Report into Employers' Liability insurance published by the Department in June. The report found that concerns about long-tail risks were clearly keenly felt by insurers and might have an impact on decisions about capital provision but it was not able to translate these concerns into quantifiable impacts on pricing. Recent price increases appear to relate most closely to accident risk.

We understand that the Association of British Insurers has separately commissioned work that will attempt to quantify the impacts of long-tail risks on the market. They expect to complete this study later this year. The Government will consider this with interest.

Claimant Data Files

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many departmental files holding data on claimants went missing (a) temporarily and (b) permanently from filestores managed (i) by his Department and (ii) by private sector contractors in each year since 1995. [127187]

Mr. Browne: The Department do not hold the information in the manner requested.

The available data relating to files lost or temporarily missing in the Department for Work and Pensions cannot be used to establish a national picture of the numbers lost or missing in the Department's file-stores.

There is no consistent counting of files lost in file-stores. Some stores, including the central store at Heywood managed by Iron Mountain, keep records of the numbers of files that cannot be traced. In these cases there is no way of distinguishing files actually missing in

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store, from those that could not be traced because they were never held in the store, or are in transit, or are held elsewhere in the organisation.

Contracted-out Rebates

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 17 July 2003, Official Report, column 531W, to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts), on contracted-out rebates, to what causes he ascribes the assumed reduction in the number of people receiving contracted-out rebates from 2001–02 to 2051–52. [131058]

Mr. Pond: The projection reflects two main assumptions:

1. A reduction in the membership of contracted-out personal pension schemes, as a result of the introduction of age-related rebates in April 1997; and


2. Changing membership of contracted-out occupational persion schemes, reflecting among other things, changing patterns of pension provision.

As the Green Paper and earlier answers made clear these are only illustrative assumptions made for the purpose of long-term financial projections and not firm predictions of future experience. The appropriateness of the assumptions will be reviewed as increased data on the number of individuals contracted-out become available.

Source:

Government Actuary's Department

Death Registration

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the (a) operation of and (b) level of compliance with the White Form arrangements linked to the registration of death. [129978]

Malcolm Wicks: The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages completes a "White Form" (form BD8 the free death certificate) which is handed to the person registering the death.

If the BD8 is forwarded to the Department, and payment is still being made, arrangements will be made to cancel payment. The Registrar also notifies the Department automatically.

There are no statistics available to show level of compliance.

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