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30 Apr 2004 : Column 1368W—continued
Council Tax (Pensioners)
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what mechanism will be used to deliver the £100 council tax payment to pensioners aged over 70 years announced in the 2004 Budget; and when it will be paid. [168992]
Malcolm Wicks:
I have been asked to reply.
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The intention is for the payments to be made automatically with the 2004–05 winter fuel payment, to those who are eligible and who do not need to claim it, before the end of the year. People who do not get a winter fuel payment will need to claim the one-off payment from the Department for Work and Pensions before 31 March 2005.
Gender Equality Directive
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the (a) financial and (b) regulatory impact to (i) consumers and (ii) business of the Gender Equality Directive with regard to risk-based pricing in relation to gender; and if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on this issue. [169808]
Ruth Kelly: The Government have welcomed the development of European sex discrimination legislation through an Equal Treatment Directive but are concerned about the impacts, both on consumers and on the insurance industry, of the measures aimed at actuarial pricing of insurance and related financial services. The UK will continue to negotiate constructively to achieve a final agreement that reflects UK priorities and concerns.
VAT (Learning and Skills Council)
Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on which transactions and activities relating to the provision of services the Learning and Skills Council is entitled to reclaim VAT costs. [169974]
John Healey: Under the normal VAT rules, VAT registered organisations can recover any tax they incur on purchases which relate to their taxable business activities.
HM Customs and Excise is debarred by statute from disclosing information about the affairs of individual taxpayers. Exemption 15 (Statutory and other restrictions) of the Open Government Code applies.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Age-Related Payments Bill
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under what circumstances he expects to use the powers in the Age-Related Payments Bill to make payments to pensioners under the age of 70. [169241]
Malcolm Wicks: The affirmative regulation making power allows for ad-hoc payments to pensioners and the circumstances for the making of such payments will be determined at the time. If such regulations are made they will be debated in Parliament and subject to the approval of both Houses.
Council Tax
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged over 70 years are in receipt of council tax benefit in Scotland, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency. [167821]
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Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested.
The number of council tax benefit recipients aged over 70 in Scotland at May 2002 is 179,000.
Notes:
1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or couple.
2. The figure is rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Council tax benefit data excludes second adult rebate cases.
4. The figure refers to cases where the claimant and/or partner are aged over 70.
5. The figure is based on a 1 per cent. sample and therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
Source:
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2002.
External Consultants
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 22 April 2004, Official Report, column 666W, on external consultants, what the cost of the external consultants for each of the projects listed was. [170105]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
National Insurance Rebates
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of expenditure on national insurance rebates for those who are contracted out of the state second pension (a) in 2006–07 and (b) for each of the next 10 financial years. [167280]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table:
| Tax year | Estimated rebate cost (£ billion) |
|---|---|
| 2006–07 | 12.7 |
| 2007–08 | 12.2 |
| 2008–09 | 12.5 |
| 2009–10 | 12.8 |
| 2010–11 | 13.1 |
| 2011–12 | 13.5 |
| 2012–13 | 13.5 |
| 2013–14 | 13.8 |
| 2014–15 | 14.2 |
| 2015–16 | 14.6 |
| 2016–17 | 15.0 |
Note:
Figures are based on the assumptions used to determine the current national insurance rebates and those for the long-term Public Expenditure Survey undertaken in February 2004.
Source:
Government Actuary's Department
Nursing Home Residents (Benefits)
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants for winter fuel payments were disallowed because of late application in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [167298]
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Malcolm Wicks: The number of winter fuel payment claims disallowed because of a late application is in the table.
| Year | Late claim disallowances made |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 10,308 in respect of winter 2000–01 |
| 2002–03 | 1,745 in respect of winter 2000–01 |
| 4,564 in respect of winter 2001–02 | |
| 2003–04 | 1,760 in respect of winter 2000–01 |
| 2,204 in respect of winter 2001–02 | |
| 3,948 in respect of winter 2002–03 |
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons Mr. G. Mack of Bradenstoke, Chippenham, Wiltshire had his winter fuel payment disallowed in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [167299]
Malcolm Wicks: I will write privately to the hon. Member clarifying matters in respect of Mr. Mack. This is in line with paragraph 12, part 2, of the code of practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what mechanism a pensioner is informed of eligibility for winter fuel payment where, through clerical error, their details do not appear on the Electoral Register. [167300]
Malcolm Wicks: Most payments are made automatically without the need to claim. Every effort is made to try and contact those who are newly eligible, however there will be some where sufficient details are not held. For those people who do need to make a claim an extensive publicity campaign is carried out. This begins three months before the qualifying week in September and continues to the end of March. The campaign includes: advertisements in national and local press; a leaflet and poster made available in a variety of venues, a dedicated winter fuel payment helpline and information on the internet.
Where a person needs to claim it is up to them whether they do so. They have until 30 March to make a claim.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior citizens in Manchester, Gorton have benefited from the winter fuel allowance since 1997. [167343]
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Malcolm Wicks: The number of senior citizens in the Manchester, Gorton constituency who have received a winter fuel payment in each year since 1999–2000 (including provisional figures for 2003–04) is in the table. Information relating to the 1997–98 and 1998–99 winters is not available.
| Payments made | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 10,370 |
| 2000–01 | 11,000 |
| 2001–02 | 10,870 |
| 2002–03 | 10,820 |
| 2003–04 | 10,625 |
Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
2. Please note that the figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run, i.e. they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid via late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). However, since late payment runs are mainly in respect of non-system cases whose claims had not been received by Qualifying Week, they are heavily skewed towards men aged 60.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. samples.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in a residential or nursing home have been ineligible for the winter fuel payment in each year since its introduction. [168160]
Malcolm Wicks: We estimate in the year 2002–03 about 16,450 people in residential or nursing homes in Great Britain were ineligible for a Winter Fuel Payment because they were receiving Income Support or income based Jobseekers Allowance. The figures for winter 2003–04 are not yet available but we would expect the numbers to be similar. Figures are not available for earlier years.
Note:
Any residence where there are four or more residents aged 60 or over is assumed to be a Registered Care and Nursing Home.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in a residential nursing home have been in receipt of the minimum income guarantee and pension credit in each year since 1997. [168161]
Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of pensioners in a nursing home and residential care who were or are in receipt of minimum income guarantee (MIG) or pension credit from November 1997 to November 2003 is shown in tables 1, 2 and 3. The figures are affected by changes made to Residential Care/Nursing Home funding arrangements in 2002 and 2003.
| Thousand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preserved rights | |||||
| As at November | All | Residential allowance | Residential care | Nursing home | Part III accommodation |
| 1997 | 239.5 | 152.7 | 44.8 | 35.3 | 6.7 |
| 1998 | 230.6 | 160.9 | 36.0 | 27.3 | 6.4 |
| 1999 | 225.9 | 169.5 | 30.1 | 20.3 | 6.1 |
| 2000 | 218.4 | 171.8 | 25.3 | 16.0 | 5.3 |
| 2001 | 214.8 | 175.2 | 21.7 | 12.8 | 5.1 |
30 Apr 2004 : Column 1373W
| All | Residential allowance | Part III accommodation | Others in nursing homes and residential care | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2002 | 186.8 | 132.8 | 3.9 | 40.1 |
| Number of recipients | |
|---|---|
| November 2003 | 157.4 |
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are subject to a degree of sampling variation.
3. 'Recipients aged 60 and over' are defined as where the recipient and/or partner is aged 60 or over. Figures therefore include a number of recipients aged under 60 where there is a partner aged 60 or over.
4. 'Part III accommodation' was accommodation provided by the local authority under Part III of the National Assistance Act 1948.
5. There are no separate counts available for Residential Care and Nursing Homes after the abolition of preserved rights in April 2002.
6. Pension Credit was introduced on 6 October 2003 and replaced Minimum Income Guarantee for Income Support pensioners.
7. The number of Pension Credit recipients in November 2003 excludes a small number of cases still receiving Income Support.
30 Apr 2004 : Column 1374W
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