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3 Nov 2003 : Column 473W—continued

Cold Weather Payments

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for how many days in each of the last five years Cold Weather Payments were made to residents whose homes were allocated to the (a) Leeds and (b) Nottingham weather stations. [135087]

Mr. Pond: Cold Weather Payments (CWPs) provide extra help to vulnerable people towards the additional costs of heating which result from a period of very cold weather in the area where they live. If the average recorded or forecast temperatures fall to 0C or below over seven consecutive days, CWPs are automatically triggered. The payments continue to be made for each seven day period that the relevant temperature criteria are met.

Since 1998–99 CWPs were made once, during 2001–02, to eligible residents whose homes were covered by the Leeds weather station. Over the same period, CWPs were made twice during 2000–01 and once during 2001–02 to eligible residents whose homes were covered by the Nottingham weather station.

Departmental Publications

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how his Department decides which of its publications should be distributed for display in post offices. [135483]

Mr. Pond: The decision as to which publications are displayed via the Post Office network is made within the Department's Communications Directorate.

Senior managers meet at least every three months to agree the future publications and information to be displayed. The choice is driven by the needs of our customers and is closely linked both to the calendar year and the timing of other marketing work happening across the Department. An example of this is the display of posters and provision of leaflets from October 2003 to April 2004 in support of the Winter Fuel Campaign.

Bi-lingual versions of the agreed publications are provided to Post Offices in Wales.

Employee Pension Rights

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on procedures to protect employee pension rights in cases of employer insolvency due to fraud, with particular reference to requirements under the 1980 Insolvency Directive. [135092]

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Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 28 October 2003]: The Pensions Compensation Board helps members of occupational pension schemes where the assets of the scheme have been reduced through dishonesty and the employer is insolvent. This is an important protection for scheme members and will act as a last resort for schemes seeking to restore their funding position.

As stated in the Green Paper ("Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement", December 2002), we intend to increase protection to those schemes that suffer from acts of dishonesty where the employer is insolvent. In future these pension schemes will be compensated for the full amount lost.

The new Pension Protection Fund will ensure greater protection for members in all cases of insolvency, not just those that arise due to fraud.

We take our obligations under Article 8 of the Insolvency Directive seriously and the European Commission has confirmed that we have met those obligations.

Employment Statistics

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have found work to date in 2003, broken down by progress to work area. [135330]

Mr. Browne: The information has been placed in the Library.

Employers Liability Insurance(Construction Sector)

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he next plans to meet the National Federation of Roofing Contractors to discuss insurance premiums. [134947]

Mr. Browne: Officials from the Department met representatives of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) and other small businesses in the construction sector with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of Fair Trading to talk about the difficulties in the Employers' Liability Insurance market on 20 February 2003.

Although the Department has no plans at present for a further meeting specifically with the NFRC, the Department's Ministers continue to meet with construction interests, most recently with the Construction Confederation on 28 October.

We are aware of the good work that the NFRC has been doing in responding to the difficulties that its members have been encountering in seeking to obtain Employers' Liability Insurance at a reasonable price.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners with dependent children were receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee in 2002–03. [135214]

Malcolm Wicks: At the date of the final quarterly survey in 2002–03, the number of claimants receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee with dependants under the age of 19 was 28,600.

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Opportunity for All Report

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of (a) preparing, (b) printing and (c) distributing Opportunity for All Fifth Annual Report 2003, Annual Report on Health, Poverty and Social Exclusion. [135083]

Mr. Pond: Opportunity for all—Fifth Annual Report 2003 (Cm 5956) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion.

The production, printing and distribution of the report, including its summary and alternative formats, cost approximately £90,000 in total.

The report was produced by the Department for Work and Pensions but is based on contributions from a wide range of officials across other UK Government Departments and the Devolved Administrations. Determining the overall cost of preparing the report in terms of staff time could therefore be achieved only at disproportionate expense.

The report is available in the Library.

Pension Credit

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if an individual who has recently purchased an annuity he deems to have voluntarily deprived themselves of capital in order to succeed in making a claim for pension credit. [134412]

Malcolm Wicks: Pension credit is designed to target more money on the poorest pensioners and to reward those making modest provision for their retirement. Where an individual has disposed of capital, consideration may be given as to whether the expenditure was reasonable in the circumstances of the case.

The main purpose of this is to guard against people giving away capital, (or an income) to increase entitlement. However, it is not necessarily the case that a pensioner would be able to increase their entitlement by purchasing an annuity. The actual income generated by the annuity would be taken into account whereas if the money was treated as capital the first £6,000 would be ignored.

If a person purchased a deferred annuity, (or another product which does not give them an income straightaway) for example, the deprivation rule may be considered in the light of the considerable body of case-law which has developed on similarly worded provisions.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department deems an individual who has had a claim for pension credit turned down but then purchases (a) a level annuity, (b) an index-linked annuity, (c) a deferred annuity and (d) a

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single premium whole life insurance policy to have voluntarily deprived themselves of capital in order to succeed in making a claim for pension credit. [134414]

Malcolm Wicks: An individual may be treated as still possessing capital in any of these circumstances, but it is not necessarily the case that they will be.

Decisions are made in the light of the circumstances of each case and the considerable body of case-law which has developed on similarly worded provisions.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have received an increase in their entitlement under the pension credit scheme in (a) Chorley, (b) the North West and (c) the UK. [134442]

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available for Chorley or the North West region.

Around half of all pensioner households will be eligible for Pension Credit and stand to gain on average £400 a year (around £7 a week).

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State reported on 14 October 2003, Official Report, column 5WS, around 1.9 million pensioner households have already been awarded Pension Credit and over 1.15 million pensioners households will get more money than they would have before.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners he estimates have yet to apply through the pension credit scheme in (a) Chorley, (b) the North West and (c) the UK; and what efforts are being made to simplify the pension credit process to make it easier for pensioners to claim their entitlement. [134443]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested but we estimate that around 500,000 pensioner households in the North West and Merseyside are eligible for Pension Credit.

The application process has been designed to be straightforward. All pensioners need do is ring our Pension Credit Application Line. Calls are free on 0800 991234 (apart from some mobiles). The Pension Service then sends the completed application form to pensioners to check, sign and return, together with any necessary documentation. The Pension Service is able to offer alternative ways of applying to suit individual circumstances, including a textphone number and a paper application form. An application form can be downloaded from the Pension Credit website at www.thepensionservice.gov.uk. Pensioners can also be put in touch with The Pension Service's local service and can be seen face-to-face either in a local surgery or, where appropriate, in the pensioner's home.

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

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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 Chorley area:


Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of residents in the Manchester, Withington constituency who (a) qualify for pension credit and (b) have so far applied for pension credit. [134510]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested.

Around half of all pensioner households will be eligible for pension credit and stand to gain on average £400 a year (around £7 a week).

As at May 2003, the number of minimum income guarantee recipients in Manchester Withington was around £3,200. 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. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Scotland and (b) the Hamilton, South constituency he estimates are entitled to (i) the income-related element and (ii) the savings-related element of the Pension Credit. [134573]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested.

As at May 2003, the number of Minimum Income Guarantee recipients in Hamilton, South was around 2,800. These are the latest figures available.

Around 400,000 pensioner households are eligible for Pension Credit in Scotland.

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




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Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on administrative problems which have occurred for pensioners accessing Pension Credit. [134644]

Malcolm Wicks: There have been no administrative problems which have significantly affected pensioners' ability to apply for Pension Credit. The Pension Credit application line (0800 99 1234), which is the main method of applying, is working well and has taken over 1.1 million calls since it became operational on 7 April. Calls are free (except for some mobile phones) and friends and family can use the application line and apply on pensioners' behalf if they are unable to make the call themselves. The Pension Service is able to offer alternative ways of applying to suit individual circumstances, including a textphone number and a paper application form. An application form can be downloaded from the Pension Credit website at www.thepensionservice.gov.uk. Pensioners can also be put in touch with The Pension Service's local service and can be seen face to face either in a local surgery or, where appropriate, in the pensioner's home. Our marketing campaign, at the heart of which is a direct mail pack to pensioner households, is designed to produce a steady build up of Pension Credit applications. I refer the hon. Member to the written statement given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Mr. Andrew Smith) on 14 October 2003, Official Report, column 5WS.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what increase in expenditure on pensions in the parliamentary constituency of Brent North has resulted from the introduction of pension credits. [135121]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. Around half of all pensioner households will be eligible for pension credit and stand to gain on average £400 a year (around £7 a week).

It is estimated that pension credit will cost around an extra £2 billion a year.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for how many pensioners in the parliamentary constituency of Brent, North there will be an increase in their pension as a result of the introduction of the Pension Credit. [135122]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested.

As at May 2003, the number of Minimum Income Guarantee recipients in Brent, North was around 2,400. These are the latest figures available.

Around 1.9 million pensioner households have already been awarded Pension Credit and over 1.1 million pensioner households will get more money than they would have before.

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






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