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14 Oct 2003 : Column 225W—continued

Ulster Hospital

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients are awaiting (a) elective admission and (b) out-patient assessment at the Ulster hospital. [130860]

Angela Smith: The most recent waiting list figures available reflect the position at the 30 June 2003.

At 30 June 2003 there were 5,925 patients waiting for in-patient treatment at the Ulster Community and Hospitals Trust. 21,264 patients were awaiting a first out-patient appointment at Ulster Community and Hospitals Trust, at 30 June 2003.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Employers Liability Insurance

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received concerning increases in employers' liability compulsory insurance in respect of small companies; and if he will make a statement. [131475]

Mr. Browne: The Department has received a number of representations concerning increases in Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI) from small businesses both directly and via representative organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The Government continue to work closely with such business representatives and the Small Business Service in the work of the second stage of the

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ELCI review. Government will report in the autumn on the progress that has been made with the review and further steps we intend to take.

Consultancy Contracts

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many consultancies were commissioned by the Department in the last two years for which figures are available; and what the cost of those contracts was. [130890]

Maria Eagle: In the two year period from September 2001 to September 2003 DWP let 824 consultancy assignments with a total value of £248 million.

Euro

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent in each year by his Department in preparing for United Kingdom entry to the euro; how much his Department plans to spend on preparations for United Kingdom entry to the euro for each year from the current financial year up to and including 2005–06; and what estimates he has made of the total costs to his Department of changeover to the European Single Currency. [131602]

Mr. Pond: Details of expenditure on changeover planning were included in the third outline National Changeover Plan, published on 9 June 2003. Copies of the document are available in the Library.

It is difficult to estimate with any accuracy how much any changeover would cost. It would depend on the approach taken. In particular, many IT systems will be euro compatible as a result of our modernisation programme, which would reduce the costs of any euro changeover.

Social Fund

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken to deal with applications to the Social Fund was over the last 12 months, broken down by individual office. [130517]

Mr. Pond [holding answer 17 September 2003]: Information on the average time taken to deal with applications to the Social Fund broken down by individual office is currently unavailable. I will write to my hon. Friend when the data requested becomes available and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Industrial Injuries

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many industrial injuries disablement benefit appeals have been lodged since 1997; and how many were (a) found in favour of the claimant, (b) found against the claimant and (c) were abandoned due to time constraints. [130858]

Mr. Browne: Appeals are not abandoned due to time constraints. If an Appeal, listed for hearing before a Tribunal, is unable to be heard, or the hearing is unable to be completed because of lack of time, it will be rescheduled for hearing at the next available date.

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The available information is in the table.

Year	Lodged at first tier agency	Received by the Appeals Service	Cleared at hearing	Found in favour of appellant	Decided against appellant	Decision upheld
1998	20,030	24,630	13,510	5,140	415	7,420
1999	22,070	17,320	17,305	6,895	450	9,300
2000	21,525	22,390	19,170	7,665	90	10,735
2001	22,885	23,110	17,985	7,300	55	10,150
2002	18,355	18,565	17,170	6,550	45	10,030
January to July 2003	7,800	11,250	9,110	3,530	20	5,265

Source:

DWP Information and Analysis Directorate Information Centre, 100 per cent sample.

Notes:

1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data becomes available.

Figures for the latest months will rise significantly as information feeds through to the Appeals Service.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.

3. Appeals cleared in one year will not be the same appeals received in that year.

4. An appeal may have more than one clearance in a year and each clearance will be counted. For example, an appellant may not be happy with the outcome of the original hearing and apply to the district chairman for leave to appeal and subsequent hearings may occur as a result.

5. Not all appeals that are received by the Appeals Service continue through the process to reach a hearing or conclusion. For example, an appeal may be invalid or withdrawn prior to hearing.

Ministerial Meetings

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his meeting with Ros Altmann on 17 September. [131659]

Mr. Andrew Smith: On 9 September I met various people with an interest in the ASW and Dexion pension schemes, including Ros Altmann. During that meeting, I reiterated that I am examining the position and would listen to sensible and constructive suggestions for dealing with compensation, not only for members of the ASW and Dexion pension schemes, but also for others in a similar position. But I also stressed that while I will listen to proposals, I do not wish to provide people with false hope that the Government will step in to help members of defined-benefit pension schemes which have already started to wind-up.

During the meeting on 9 September, I agreed that my officials should meet Ros Altmann to discuss her suggestions. This was the meeting that took place on 17 September, which my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Mr. Wyatt) also attended. The meeting focussed on Ros Altmann's proposals for providing assistance and the assumptions on which her proposals are based. No minister attended the meeting on 17 September.

Pension Advice Surgeries

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the locations of the local pension advice surgeries are. [128742]

Malcolm Wicks: The Pension Service provides a wide range of information and support on benefits to older people through our network of local service surgeries.

Local Pension Service surgeries are held on a regular basis across all areas of the country, often in partnership with other organisations such as local authorities and Age Concern. The latest data available indicate that there are currently 2,650 regular drop in and appointment surgeries in place nationally.

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Details of the most convenient surgery for individual pensioners and their carers can be obtained by telephoning 0845 60 60 2 65.

The Pension Service wrote to all hon. Members at the end of July providing a full list of surgeries and opening times in individual constituencies; however I am happy to list here the regular surgeries that take place in the Northavon area:

South Gloucestershire Deaf Association


Kingswood Library


Patchway Community Centre


Pucklechurch Sheltered House


Thornbury Library


Yate Library


Frenchay Hospital


Southmead Hospital


Avon Crescent Sheltered Housing


Marshfield Church Hall


Withymead


The Brockridge Centre.

Pension Credit

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral briefing to pensioners of 3 September on the pension credit, (a) what the total advertising budget is, (b) how many pensioners will receive pension credit in October, and, of that number, how many will be former minimum income guarantee claimants; and if he will estimate the (i) number of calls that can be dealt with per (A) hour and (B) day by the pension credit telephone application line and (ii) average time to complete an application using the pension credit telephone application line. [131580]

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) on 17 June 2003, Official Report, column 157W. There are now around 1.9 million pensioner households on our systems being paid pension credit. We intend from November to publish monthly reports on the progress of pension credit take-on, which will include a more detailed breakdown of this

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figure. Our planning assumes that on a typical weekday the pension credit application line will be handling around 18,000 calls a day, although if necessary the application line has the capacity to answer up to 14,000 calls per hour for a limited time during exceptionally busy periods. The level of resources will ensure that customers who wish to make an application using the application line can do so. The average time to complete a pension credit application for customers using the application line is currently about 20 minutes.

Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in The Wrekin he estimates will benefit from the pension credit. [131689]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. However, an estimated 350,000 pensioner households are eligible for pension credit in the West Midlands.

Notes:

1. The estimates were calculated for all pensioners using the Department's Policy Simulation Model based on the Family Resource Survey data for 2001–02 projected forward to 2003–04. This shows around 3.6 million households entitled to pension credit.

2. The Policy Simulation Model excludes all pensioners in nursing or residential care homes. This is because the Family Resource Survey data does not contain information on these cases. We estimate that just over 200,000 pensioners in care homes will be entitled to pension credit. This means that the total number of pensioner households eligible for pension credit in 2003–04 is estimated to be about 3.8 million households.

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