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TREASURY
Census 2001
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Ruth Kelly): The 2001 Census National Report (part 2) for England and Wales is being published and laid before Parliament today by the Office for National Statistics. Copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses. The report is also available on the National Statistics website.
This follows the publication of the National Report (part 1) in May 2003. These two documents are prepared under section 4(1) of the Census Act 1920.
The printed National Report (part 2) contains tables on migration and on travel-to-work and workplace populations as well as new tables on members of the Armed Forces and on same-sex couples. The report is accompanied by a CD that includes all tables contained in either part of the National Report at regional and local authority level. Copies are being provided free of charge to all local authorities.
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WORK AND PENSIONS
Working and Saving
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith): The proposals we are publishing today are the next part of the Government's strategy for private and occupational pensions as set out in the pensions Green Paper.
Informed Choices for Working and Saving (Cm 6111) takes forward a central element of the pensions agenda and sets out our strategy for empowering individuals to make real and informed choices on working and saving for their retirement.
The Government's strategy is based around three steps—activation, education and information. We are determined:
- to enable people to make the most of pension provision and encourage availability of the right pension products;
- to raise people's awareness of their options and improve financial education; and
- to ensure that everyone has high-quality, accurate and timely information.
We in Government want to build on our partnership working with employers, individuals, the financial services industry, trade unions and the voluntary sector who all have a part to play taking this agenda forward.
Our Informed Choice strategy is only one part of our wider pension reform programme. Alongside Informed Choice the forthcoming Pensions Bill will take forward measures that bolster security for scheme members while also making it easier, simpler and more flexible for employers and employees to contribute to pensions.
Benefit Fraud Inspection(Portsmouth City Council)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Portsmouth city council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
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Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The performance standards for housing benefits' allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
The BFI inspected Portsmouth city council against the performance standards for housing benefits. The report finds that the council is not at standard for any of the seven functional areas of the standards.
There were some significant strengths in strategic management, customer services, processing of claims, internal security and working with landlords. However, in the areas of counter-fraud and overpayments, the council has much to do to improve its performance.
Although not at standard for customer services, the council delivers a comprehensive range of customer services throughout eight area housing offices, and the work in encouraging take-up of benefits through the access point initiative was particularly commendable. The council also produced comprehensive and well-documented procedures for selecting suitable landlords. New benefit claims were taking an average of 38 days to clear compared with the national target of 36 days.
Portsmouth city council needed to improve its counter-fraud work by revising its prosecution policy, developing procedures for counter-fraud officers and improving its management of investigations.
The council could not accurately report performance for benefit overpayments, and the areas of decisions, calculations and recovery of overpayments needed to be critically addressed.
In 2002–03, Portsmouth City Council administered some £61 million in housing benefits, about 14.6 per cent. of its total gross revenue expenditure.
The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings and recommendations.