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28 Oct 2003 : Column 215W—continued

Carers

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to grant (a) the carers' allowance and (b) other financial assistance to carers over 65 years irrespective of other benefit entitlements. [133956]

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Maria Eagle: The upper age limit for carer's allowance was abolished with effect from 28 October 2002. The allowance for those over 65 years is subject to the same rules as those which apply when a person below the state pension age is entitled to more than one Social Security benefit.

Only one benefit at a time can be paid in full for income maintenance. Both state pension and carer's allowance provide a measure of income replacement for individuals who have reached pension age. In these circumstances one benefit has to be adjusted by reference to the other.

As to other financial assistance, even if carer's allowance is not payable under these rules, a carer entitled to state pension credit will receive the carer premium worth £25.10 a week. There are no plans to change these arrangements.

Correspondence

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 20 August 2003. [134512]

Maria Eagle: I regret we have no record of the hon. Member's letter. If he would like to send a further copy, I will arrange for it to be considered urgently.

Disability Living Allowance

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the arrangements are for piloting new disability living allowance claim forms. [132677]

Maria Eagle: On 22 September 2003, we began testing a new, shorter and simpler, postal Disability Living Allowance claim form at Wembley Disability Benefit Centre. We plan to run the test until the end of the calendar year and the findings will be evaluated in the New Year. Before starting the test at Wembley, we communicated widely with local groups representing customers with disabilities, to encourage them to cooperate in the use of the test form and to provide feedback, which will form a valuable part of the evaluation process. No decisions will be taken on further use of the new form until after the test results have been evaluated.

Job Grant

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who will be able to apply for the job grant; how much it is worth; for how long the grant will be available; and if he will make a statement. [132949]

Mr. Browne: The Job Grant is intended to help people manage until they receive their wages when moving from benefits into work and was introduced in April 2001. It is a flat rate one-off payment of 100 payable to people aged 25 and over who have been in receipt of Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance continuously for the last 52 weeks and who are moving into work of at least 16 hours a week.

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From 25 October 2004, the Job Grant will be available to people receiving Job Seekers Allowance aged 25 and over, lone parents, and people of any age receiving Income Support, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance. The amount payable to lone parents and couples with children will be increased to 250. In addition, the qualifying period of benefit receipt will be reduced from the current 52 weeks to 26 weeks. Access has also been extended to partners of eligible benefit recipients who take up work of 24 hours a week or more, which takes the household off benefit. Full details of Job Grant eligibility conditions have been placed in the Library.

There are no plans to discontinue the Job Grant and we regularly review our package of work incentives, of which Job Grant is an integral part, to ensure that it works effectively to help people moving from benefits into employment.

Jobcentre Plus

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time workers were employed by Jobcentre Plus in Essex on 1 September. [132633]

Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Mark Francois, dated 28 October 2003:




Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will change jobseeker's allowance from a means-tested benefit to one based solely on contributions. [133525]

Mr. Pond: Both contribution-based and income-based jobseeker's allowance provide support to people while they are looking for work. We have no plans to change this.

Pensions

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 work in each local pension advice surgery. [128743]

Malcolm Wicks: Information surgeries have been set up in partnership with various organisations to provide a service in locations where customers are most comfortable conducting their business with our staff. We do not have this information in the format requested as the staffing varies from area to area, but the usual arrangement is that one member of local service staff from The Pension Service and one person from the partnering organisation run each surgery session. The

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latest data available shows that there are currently 2,650 weekly surgeries in place with an average session time of 1.5 hours per week. Currently, there are 2,795 (whole time equivalent) field staff employed in The Pension Service local service nationally.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of pension credit applications to date have elected to pay into (a) post office card accounts, (b) bank accounts and (c) benefit books. [132322]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. From November, it will be possible to provide some information on the number of pension credit awards by method of payment. I will write to the hon. Member when the information requested becomes available and place a copy of my letter in the Library. Key figures on the progress of conversion to direct payment (payment into accounts) are placed in the Library and updated every four weeks.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) his estimate of the number of residents in the Manchester, Gorton constituency who qualify for pension credit and (b) the number in that constituency who have so far applied for that credit is. [134222]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. As at May 2003, the number of Minimum Income Guarantee recipients in Manchester Gorton was around 4,400. These are the latest figures available.

We intend from November to publish monthly reports on the progress of Pension Credit take-on, which will include information on the number of applications.








Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether, when submitting a pension credit claim form, an individual has to provide details of a capital sum expected to be received in future. [134411]

Malcolm Wicks: On applying for Pension Credit from age 65, pensioners are asked about any changes they expect to their pension income, annuities and capital over the next 12 months. If they expect to receive a lump sum payment during this period, for example, but the amount is not yet known, their award may be fixed for reassessment at the date of the expected change. If a change is expected in more than 12 months, their assessment will be fixed for the full five-year period allowed, during which time any increases in capital will be ignored.

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Pensioners aged 60 and over but under 65 will not have an assessed income period set. This means that changes in circumstances will need to be declared as and when they occur in the same way as was the case under the Minimum Income Guarantee.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners are receiving pension credit in (a) Chorley, (b) the North West and (c) the UK. [134441]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. As at May 2003, the number of Minimum Income Guarantee recipients in Chorley was around 2700, in the North West was 248,600 and in Great Britain was 1,778,100. These are the latest figures available.

We intend from November to publish monthly reports on the progress of Pension Credit take-on, which will include information on the number of applications.








Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations the Government has received about the collection of a pension by a third party under the direct payment arrangements; and if he will make a statement. [133355]

Mr. Pond [holding answer 27 October 2003]: The Department regularly consults with a range of Specific Interest Groups, including Age Concern, Citizens Advice and Help the Aged to discuss issues surrounding Direct Payment.

We are committed to ensuring that all people have reasonable access to their benefits and pensions, including the collection of benefits and pensions by a third party.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 18 September 2003, Official Report, column 915W, on pension investment, what public education campaigns the Department has undertaken aimed at those aged 25 to 34 about the benefits of property vis-a-vis other savings products. [135037]

Malcolm Wicks: None.

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