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Pension Service
11. Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham): If he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the Pension Service. [138643]
The Minister for Pensions (Malcolm Wicks): The Pension Service is the first ever service dedicated to the needs of elderly people. It operates through a network of 26 pension centres across the country, supported by a local service provided in accessible locations and delivered in partnership with local statutory and voluntary organisations. It has only been operating since April 2002, but we already know from customer and partner feedback that it is making a real difference.
Tim Loughton : The Secretary of State just talked about pensioners who have made successful applications for pension credit as if that should qualify them for a special achievement award. Despite the local field workers in the Pension Service, most pensioners have to rely for advice on the hotline to the call centres, where it is recommended that they should allow at least 20 minutes for their call to be processed. Can the Minister name one other advice line that recommends a minimum of 20 minutes to deal with what should be a straightforward benefit to members of the public, elderly or otherwise?
Malcolm Wicks: The hon. Gentleman's cynicism about this social policy is a cause for concern. I hope that he does not go around spreading that cynicism in his constituency, because much good work is going on there. People can now choose how to apply for pension credit—by filling in the application form, by ringing the freephone number, by visiting the advice surgery or by having a home visit. That is a great advance. In October alone, in the hon. Gentleman's constituency—I am sure he knows this—91 home visits were made, 173 people dropped into local surgeries, and there were 16 surgery appointments. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman, from a sedentary position, seems to say that he is not participating. If he wants to know about the good work on the pension credit in his own constituency, he should get out more.
Mr. Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne): When I visited the Pension Service in my constituency last Friday, I found
its dedicated staff working flat out to try to explain the pension credit to pensioners. Given the Minister's assumption that 1.4 million of the poorest pensioners will not get round to claiming it owing to its complexity and means-testing, why not simply boost the basic pension, which has 100 per cent. take-up, and restore the link with earnings?
Malcolm Wicks: We know that since 1980, members of the Tory party have become born-again earnings linkers—a bit late, methinks. Let me tell the hon. Gentleman about the figure of 1.4 million: that is the number of individuals who have already gained from pension credit and are better off. The number will grow and grow. I welcome the hon. Gentleman's support for our local Pension Service, which comprises a dedicated group of people. However, they will be helped by enthusiasm from local Members of Parliament, not by Conservative Members stirring up apathy about a major social advance.
If the extra money for pension credit were simply put into increasing the basic pension, some people in all our constituencies would be £30 a week worse off. We make no apologies for helping the poorest among the elderly population.
Child Support Agency
12. Tony Lloyd (Manchester, Central): If he will make a statement on the new scheme for dealing with Child Support Agency cases. [138645]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): The new scheme was introduced for new cases and those connected to a new scheme case in March this year.
Steady progress is being made, and I am pleased to be able to report that nearly 6,000 of the poorest families are already benefiting from the new child maintenance premium.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will shortly place in the Library a second report on progress in implementing the new child support scheme.
Tony Lloyd : I am sure that the 6,000 beneficiaries will be grateful for the new scheme and that my hon. Friend will confirm that the Government clearly perceive it to be a fairer system. Can my hon. Friend therefore understand the frustration of the many people on the old scheme who feel that they are locked into it, and sometimes pay not only more than they believe to be right but more than their former partners believe to be right? Can he provide a ray of hope to many people that the management system in the CSA will get to grips with the problem and that the new scheme will be rolled out for all those who need it?
Mr. Pond: We understand why people are impatient to move to the new scheme, which is fairer, simpler and helps to ensure that children get the support that they need and deserve as effectively as possible. We are making good progress, with the CSA clearing thousands of cases each week, but we have always said that we will transfer existing cases to the new scheme when we are satisfied that it is working well. We shall not make the
mistakes of 1993, when the existing scheme was introduced too hurriedly and at considerable cost and heartache both to parents with care, and non-resident parents and to their children.
Mr. Paul Goodman (Wycombe): The Under-Secretary will naturally want to be candid with hon. Members about the reasons for the delay in transferring the old cases to the new scheme. Will he confirm or deny the report in this week's Computer Weekly, which claims that up to 40 per cent. of the old records could contain defects, omissions and anomalies; that up to 14 million individual items may need validating, correcting or checking; and that the CSA has
- "no clear solution to its difficulties, no real idea when it will transfer the million cases . . . and has not told the whole truth to Parliament about its affairs"?
Mr. Pond: Well, Mr. Speaker! May I welcome Conservative Members' new-found enthusiasm for this matter? A little more than two weeks ago, we had an opportunity to discuss it in practical terms in Committee. Only one Conservative Member, who stayed for one minute of the proceedings, turned up. Conservative Members were concerned with three letters—not "CSA" but "IDS".
We are doing what we can to ensure that the new scheme operates effectively. It is working effectively—we are dealing with thousands of cases every week. We know that it is far fairer and simpler than the previous scheme, which the Conservative party was responsible for introducing. We shall ensure that we tackle the problems that we are experiencing with the IT system. The hon. Gentleman knows that those problems have been disappointing for the Government and all other hon. Members. However, we shall ensure that we deal with them. We are working with our partners, Electronic Data Systems—EDS—on that, and we are determined that children get the support that they deserve and need as quickly and effectively as possible.
Dr. Ashok Kumar (Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East): I support the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Central (Tony Lloyd). I emphasise that many of my constituents have told me that the CSA has told those on the old system that it will take many years to get on to the new system. Will my hon. Friend consider that seriously and do what he can to speed up the process?
Mr. Pond: I assure my hon. Friend and his constituents that we will transfer the existing cases as quickly as we can, because we understand the frustration and impatience both of non-resident parents and of parents with care about the need to move quickly—but we shall do so only when we are sure that the system is working effectively. We would be doing no favours to the House, and certainly not to the parents or children involved, if we tried to move forward before we were ready.
Benefits Entitlement (Savings Income)
13. Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham): If he will reduce the imputed return on savings in the calculation of benefits entitlement. [138646]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): We have already done so in respect of pension credit, for which the tariff income on savings is half that for the minimum income guarantee, which it replaced. We have no plans to change the tariff income on other benefits, but we keep all income and capital rules under review.
Dr. Cable : I accept the Minister's reply, in that the Government have indeed reduced the assumed rate of annual return from the ludicrous level of 20 per cent. However, does the Minister accept the criticisms of the pensions experts who came before the Treasury Committee last week, who said that the current assumed rate of 10 per cent. on savings over £6,000 was totally unrealistic, because no bank offers anything remotely like that, and was a significant disincentive to saving?
Mr. Pond: Less than 5 per cent. of customers are assessed as having any tariff income at all, and we must bear in mind that the first tranche of savings is disregarded altogether. The tariff income rules allow people to continue to receive income-based benefit even if they have some savings, rather than their being disqualified outright. I think that the hon. Gentleman would agree that it would be wrong to disqualify people totally simply because they had some savings. The tariff income rules are a way of phasing out the entitlement to benefit, without pushing people over a cliff edge, but we keep all the rules under review, and will continue to do so.
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