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29 Apr 2004 : Column 1243W—continued

Pension Credit

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of pension credit are receiving (a) less than 10p per week, (b) 10p to 19p per week, (c) 20p to 29p per week, (d) 30p to 39p per week, (e) 40p to 49p per week, (f) 50p to 59p per week, (g) 60p to 69p per week, (h) 70p to 79p per week, (i) 80p to 89p per week and (j) 90p to 99p per week. [169396]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is given in the table. An award of pension credit of less than 10p per week is not payable unless the person is receiving another benefit payable with pension credit.
 
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Pension credit awards of less than £1 as at 31 March 2004

Amount	Number of awards
Less than 10p	1,360
10p to19p	1,107
20p to 29p	1,156
20p to 39p	1,152
40p to 49p	1,241
50p to 59p	1,271
60p to 69p	1,355
70p to 79p	1,302
80p to 89p	1,419
90p to 99p	1,428
Total	12,791

State Second Pension

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate (a) the gross cost, (b) the saving in expenditure on the state second pension, (c) the saving in expenditure on pension credit, (d) the saving in expenditure on other means-tested benefits, (e) the additional revenue from income tax and (f) the net cost to the Exchequer, of paying a full basic state pension to all individuals aged 65 or over from April 2006 onwards at the rate of the guarantee credit, regardless of contribution record, and subsequently indexed to average earnings, combined with the abolition from that date of all new accruals to the state second pension and the abolition of all payments of savings credit, including those to existing recipients for each of the 10 financial years from 2006–07. [167320]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 22 April 2004]: The information is not available in the format requested. However, such information as is available is in the following table:
£ billion

	(a) Gross Cost	(b) S2P Saving	(c) PC Saving	(d) IRB Saving	(f) Net Cost
2006–07	19.4	0	3.1	1.6	14.8
2007–08	20.7	0	3.3	1.7	15.8
2008–09	22.1	0.1	3.5	1.8	16.7
2009–10	23.5	0.1	3.7	1.9	17.8
2010–11	25.0	0.2	3.9	2.0	18.8
2011–12	26.6	0.3	4.1	2.1	20.1
2012–13	28.6	0.4	4.3	2.3	21.6
2013–14	30.5	0.6	4.6	2.4	23.0
2014–15	32.4	0.7	4.8	2.6	24.3
2015–16	34.2	0.9	5.0	2.7	25.6

Notes:
1. Figures are for Great Britain in 2004–05 price terms using the GDP deflator index rounded to the nearest £100 million.
2. Gross costs are estimated by the Government Actuary's Department and are consistent with Budget 2004 assumptions and use 2002 based population projections. Gross costs refer to the additional costs after allowing for National Insurance Fund benefits and non-means tested vote benefits.
3. The net cost includes all savings except for additional income tax revenue, see note 4.
4. Additional income tax revenue is estimated by the Inland Revenue using 2006 tax rates. We are unable to publish any income tax forecast estimates for years beyond that which is published in the Financial Statement and Budget Report (currently 2006–07). The income tax estimate for 2006–07 is based on the 2001–02 Survey of Personal Incomes and is projected in line with March 2004 Budget assumptions. The income tax revenue in 2006–07 is £5.4 billion, resulting in a total net cost of £9.4 billion. For illustrative purposes, Inland Revenue assumed income tax revenue to be a fixed percentage of the gross cost for this option in 2007–08 and 2008–09. Therefore, the total net cost in 2007–08 is £10 billion and in 2008–09 is £10.5 billion. Estimates for later years would be subject to a greater degree of uncertainty.
5. The savings from abolishing future accruals to the state second pension are also calculated by the Government Actuary's Department, they include state pension, additional pension and widows benefit additional pension and are consistent with the long term Public Expenditure Survey forecasts. As earnings in the year of reaching state pension age do not count towards an individual's S2P, the first savings occur in 2007–08. No allowance has been made for changes to contracting out rules.
6. The savings credit is assumed to be abolished from April 2006 with no payments to existing pensioners and no new recipients after 2006. Figures are based on the illustrative long-term projections of benefit expenditure underlying Annex A of the Budget report.
7. The savings from other income related benefits (housing benefit and council tax benefit) are calculated using the Department's policy simulation model and April 2004 benefit rates. Consistent with previous answers the offset for the first year is held constant for subsequent years. In addition the increase in housing benefit and council tax benefit personal allowance for people aged 65 and over by the maximum savings credit amount, introduced alongside savings credit and included in forecast expenditure, has been accounted for, with the costing including the effect of removing this increase.





 
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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Legal Aid

Bob Spink: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many solicitors provided legal aid in each legal aid area (a) in 1997 and (b) at the latest time for which figures are available. [168619]

Mr. Lammy: The Legal Services Commission can provide figures for 1997–98 on the number of solicitors' offices paid for legal aid work in Family, Non-family and Crime but cannot provide any further breakdown by category. Some offices practiced more than one area of legal aid, therefore the total offices paid does not equal the sum of the breakdown. These figures are in the following table A.

In January 2000 the Legal Services Commission introduced a system of contracting. A breakdown of the number of solicitors' offices with contracts as at April 2004 is provided in the following table B. Some offices hold a contract in more than one category of law, therefore, the total offices with civil contracts does not equal the sum of the breakdown.
Table A

Category of law	Solicitors' offices paid in 1997–98
Family	9,082
Non-family	9,497
Crime	7,304
Total solicitors' offices paid	10,601

 
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Table B

Category of law	Solicitors' offices with contracts as at April 2004
Actions against the police	75
Clinical negligence	288
Community care	57
Consumer	45
Debt	158
Education	47
Employment	163
Family	3,072
Housing	450
Immigration: asylum	380
Immigration: non-asylum	376
Mental health	297
Personal injury	1,079
Public law	40
Tolerance	2,098
Welfare benefits	186
Solicitors' offices with Controlled Work Contracts	3,701
Additional Licence Only Contracts	213
Total solicitors' offices with General Civil       Contracts	3,914
The number of solicitors' offices with criminal       contracts as at 31 March 2004	2,750

Bob Spink: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of the legal aid budget was spent on asylum and immigration cases in each of the last five years. [167074]

Mr. Lammy: The proportion of the legal aid budget spent on immigration and asylum in each of the last five years was as follows:
Percentage

	Proportion
1998–99	3.2
1999–2000	3.9
2000–01	4.8
2001–02	7.4
2002–03	9.2

Figures for 2003–04 are not yet available.

Social Security Commissioners

Hywel Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what the average waiting time from application to hearing for   cases before the Social Security Commissioners was    in the last three years in (a) Wales and (b) England; [167983]

(2) what the average waiting time from application to   hearing for cases before the Social Security Commissioners was in each of the last three years for cases heard (a) wholly or partly in Welsh and (b) in English. [167986]

Mr. Lammy: The Social Security Commissioners receive applications from the claimant, which are then considered by the Commissioners, and a ruling issued. The Commissioners will either grant or refuse leave to appeal. If leave to appeal is granted the appeal then proceeds to hearing. No cases before the Social Security Commissioners have been heard either wholly or partly in Welsh during the last three years. The Office of the Social Security Commissioners does not hold separate
 
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statistical information relating to waiting times for cases in either Wales or England. The average waiting times for an application for leave to appeal, and for appeals granted leave to proceed to hearing, over the last three years, are as follows:
Weeks

Period	Average waiting time for application decision	Average waiting time from decision to hearing(28)
2001–02	16	34
2002–03	10	21
2003–04	8	20

⁽²⁸⁾ Please note that waiting time figures have been rounded up or down where appropriate.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what written and other information material is provided (a) in Welsh and (b) bilingually to people taking cases to the Social Security Commissioners. [167984]

Mr. Lammy: The Office for the Social Security Commissioners has an internet site which is accessible in Welsh or English which provides a range of information in relation to the procedures of the Commissioners. Work is currently ongoing in translating the Social Security Commissioners appeal form, and an information leaflet, into the Welsh language.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many cases from Wales were heard in each of the last three years by the Social Security Commissioners; and how many of these were heard partly or wholly through the medium of Welsh. [167985]

Mr. Lammy: The Office of the Social Security Commissioners does not hold statistical information relating to the volume of cases received principally from Wales. However, over the last three years there have been 73 cases heard orally in Cardiff for which proceedings were conducted in English.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what provision is   available for cases before the Social Security Commissioners to be heard either wholly or partly in Welsh in respect of (a) cases heard in Wales and (b) cases from Wales heard in England. [167987]

Mr. Lammy: A standard direction applies to cases received from Wales. This states that "A notice that it is intended to use Welsh must (a) identify those parts of the case or hearing in which Welsh will be used and (b) be given to the commissioner as soon as possible and in any event at least 21 days before any oral hearing. If notice is given that Welsh will be used the Commissioner will make any further directions that are necessary or expedient". This direction covers all cases received from Wales irrespective of whether they are heard in Wales or England.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many cases   from Wales were heard by the Social Security Commissioners in England in each of the last three years. [168018]

 
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Mr. Lammy: The Office of the Social Security Commissioners does not hold statistical information relating to the number of cases received from Wales and subsequently heard in England.

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