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26 Jan 2004 : Column 96W—continued

Stakeholder Pensions

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the average level of employer contributions, net of tax relief, into stakeholder pension schemes since their introduction. [150458]

Malcolm Wicks: Inland Revenue data show that in 2001–02 the average contribution to stakeholder pension schemes made by employers was £420 per annum.

This figure represents the average contribution for the financial year 2001–02 to schemes where an employer is contributing. The data are for the full year and does not include a scheme start date, so where a scheme was started in-year, although the contributions would only have been made for part of the year they have been averaged over 12 months. Therefore the estimate will not reflect the true annual average if the scheme had operated for a full year.

At present comparable figures for subsequent years are not yet available as although we have data on total contributions made and number of schemes receiving

26 Jan 2004 : Column 97W

tax relief, data showing the schemes which received employer contributions has not yet been released; data for 2002–03 will become available in summer 2004.

Between 2001–02 and 2002–03 total contributions to stakeholder schemes by employers have risen by 267 per cent. from £150 million per annum to £400 million per annum.

Advice Organisations

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the overlap between existing Citizens Advice Bureaux and the new advice-based organisations funded by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [148528]

Mr. Pond: Our Agencies provide advice to people on those areas for which this Department is responsible, ensuring that people understand their rights and responsibilities within the benefit system, the benefits that they are entitled to, the job opportunities open to them, and what services are available to improve their job prospects. However, we do not give the broad range of advice that is available from Citizens Advice Bureaux.

In some cases, the best way to provide our services is in conjunction with other organisations within the community. For example, Jobcentre Plus is working with Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change on its Neighbourhood Pathway project. It is providing its knowledge and skills in helping people back in to work, and has invested £883,890 during the period April 2003 to December 2003, supporting 420 people into work and 320 people into training and mainstream Jobcentre Plus programmes.

Benefit Payments (Computer Downtime)

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hours of system downtime relating to the computer dealing with direct payment there have been in each month since it was introduced. [147653]

Mr. Pond [holding answer 13 January 2004]: Information is not available in the format requested.

The Department has contingency arrangements in place to maintain continuity of benefit payment, in the unlikely event of benefit system failure.

The figures for Service Availability across all Departmental Systems over the past 6 months has been 99.98 per cent. Availability has not dipped under the 99.2 per cent. target over the past year.

Carers Allowance

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) over and (b) under 65 were entitled to carers allowance but did not receive payment in each (i) constituency and (ii) local authority area in London in the last year for which figures are available. [146088]

26 Jan 2004 : Column 98W

Maria Eagle: Information on people in London local authorities who are entitled to Carers Allowance but are not receiving a payment due to the overlapping benefit rules, as at 31 August 2003, the latest data available is given in the table.

Local Authority	All	Under 65	65 and over
All	9,695	4,625	5,070
City of London	5	—	—
Barking and Dagenham	365	170	195
Barnet	365	185	185
Bexley	355	150	205
Brent	300	150	155
Bromley	370	190	180
Camden	230	110	120
Croydon	395	190	205
Ealing	345	175	170
Enfield	325	155	170
Greenwich	525	190	335
Hackney	275	135	140
Hammersmith and Fulham	180	95	85
Haringey	240	125	115
Harrow	225	105	120
Havering	520	205	315
Hillingdon	370	175	190
Hounslow	325	145	180
Islington	280	135	145
Kensington and Chelsea	85	35	50
Kingston upon Thames	135	60	75
Lambeth	280	145	135
Lewisham	350	170	180
Merton	215	90	120
Newham	395	220	180
Redbridge	380	200	180
Richmond upon Thames	155	70	85
Southwark	315	165	150
Sutton	260	115	145
Tower Hamlets	310	155	150
Waltham Forest	325	160	165
Wandsworth	340	160	180
Westminster	165	95	70

Information on people in London Parliamentary Constituencies who are entitled to Carers Allowance but are not receiving a payment due to the overlapping benefit rules, as at 31 August 2003, the latest data available is given in the table.

Parliamentary Constituency	All	Under 65	65 and over
All	9,695	4,625	5,070
Barking	180	90	90
Battersea	100	45	60
Beckenham	105	50	55
Bethnal Green and Bow	170	80	90
Bexleyheath and Crayford	155	65	90
Brent East	95	50	45
Brent North	110	55	55
Brent South	95	45	50
Brentford and Isleworth	150	70	80
Bromley and Chislehurst	115	60	55
Camberwell and Peckham	110	60	50
Carshalton and Wallington	145	60	85
Chingford and Woodford Green	140	55	85
Chipping Barnet	115	60	55
Cities of London and Westminster	70	35	30
Croydon Central	140	65	75
Croydon North	145	75	75
Croydon South	110	55	55
Dagenham	185	80	105
Dulwich and West Norwood	105	60	50
Haling Acton and Shepherds Bush	110	55	55
Ealing North	135	70	65
Ealing Southall	160	85	75
East Ham	160	85	75
Edmonton	125	60	60
Eltham	205	60	145
Enfield North	95	50	45
Enfield Southgate	105	40	65
Erith and Thamesmead	185	85	100
Feltham and Heston	170	70	100
Finchley and Golders Green	110	55	55
Greenwich and Woolwich	205	75	125
Hackney North and Stoke Newington	110	50	60
Hackney South and Shoreditch	165	85	80
Hammersmith and Fulham	125	65	60
Hampstead and Highgate	95	40	50
Harrow East	130	65	65
Harrow West	95	40	55
Hayes and Harlington	115	70	45
Hendon	140	70	70
Holborn and St. Pancras	135	65	70
Hornchurch	180	80	100
Hornsey and Wood Green	90	45	45
llford North	180	95	90
llford South	145	85	60
Islington North	150	65	85
Islington South and Finsbury	130	70	60
Kensington and Chelsea	35	15	20
Kingston and Surbiton	110	45	60
Lewisham Deptford	100	55	45
Lewisham East	130	55	75
Lewisham West	120	60	60
Leyton and Wanstead	120	55	65
Mitcham and Morden	130	60	70
North Southwark and Bermondsey	145	75	70
Old Bexley and Sidcup	130	50	80
Orpington	150	75	75
Poplar and Canning Town	210	120	90
Putney	105	50	55
Regents Park and Kensington North	145	80	70
Richmond Park	80	35	40
Romford	145	55	90
Ruislip Northwood	130	55	75
Streatham	110	60	45
Sutton and Cheam	115	55	60
Tooting	130	65	65
Tottenham	150	75	70
Twickenham	100	45	55
Upminster	200	75	125
Uxbridge	125	55	70
Vauxhall	120	55	65
Walthamstow	125	70	55
West Ham	160	90	70
Wimbledon	85	35	50

Note:

Figures are rounded to the nearest 5, totals may not sum due to founding

Source:

IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. sample

26 Jan 2004 : Column 99W

The following table contains the figures for the number of people who have an entitlement to Carers Allowance but do not receive it due to overlapping benefit rules, but receive a Carer Premium ¹ .

¹ The carer premium is intended to focus help on those who have limited opportunity to gain income from work because of providing care for a person with disabilities. It is awarded where the carer receives Carer's Allowance or has an underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance. The premium is paid in addition to other benefits and premiums, and where both the claimant and their partner satisfy the conditions, two carer premiums are paid.

The figures include Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) data. They include all IS (over and under 60s) and JSA(IB) cases with a carer premium but with no CA. From October 2003, Pension Credit replaced Income Support for people over 60. The Pension Credit calculation for people who are entitled to Carer's Allowance includes an additional amount equal to the carer premium in Income Support.

26 Jan 2004 : Column 100W

Thousands

	Total
All	50.6
Under 65	24.7
65 and Over	26.0

Notes:

1. Figures are based on a 5 per cent sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.

2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and are expressed in thousands. Totals do not sum due to rounding.

3. Income-based JSA will include those receiving Income-based JSA with an underlying entitlement to Contribution-based JSA.

4. There is an equivalent premium called the Additional Amount in Pension Credit. There are no data available on this as yet.

Source:

IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. sample.

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