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Pension Income (Over-50s)

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of people between the age of 50 and state pension age live in    households without an occupational pension income; what proportion of these are in each decile of overall income distribution; and if he will make a statement. [172538]

Malcolm Wicks: There were 6.8 million people between the age of 50 and state pension age who lived in households without an occupational pension income in the financial year 2002–03. This equated to 73 per cent. of all individuals in this age group.
 
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The proportion of this group located in each decile of the equivalised income distribution, both before and after housing costs have been taken into account, is presented in the table.

	Income before housing costs	Income after housing costs
Decile 1	11	11
Decile 2	7	8
Decile 3	8	7
Decile 4	8	9
Decile 5	9	8
Decile 6	10	10
Decile 7	11	10
Decile 8	11	12
Decile 9	12	12
Decile 10	13	14

Notes:
1. Figures are for the financial year 2002–03, the latest date for which data are available.
2. Estimates are for Great Britain.
3. Estimates relate to the status of individuals at the time they were interviewed for the FRS.
4. The estimates are based on sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error, and to remaining variability in non-response which is not corrected by the grossing regime.
5. The income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household).
6. The Households Below Average Income series presents analysis of income of two bases: Before Housing Costs (BHC) and After Housing Costs (AHC). This is principally to take into account variations in housing costs that themselves do not correspond to comparable variations in the quality of housing.
7. Occupational incomes include income from the following: pension from a previous employer, widow's employee pension and trade union or friendly society pension.
Source:
Family Resources Survey (FRS).

Pensioner Benefits

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the estimated total income for pensioners from (a) benefits and (b) private sources is since 1992; and what this figure is as a percentage. [172494]

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the proportion of pensioners' income coming from (a) state and (b) private sources. [175069]

Malcolm Wicks: There is no single data source which covers pensioners' benefit and private incomes between 1992 and the present. The information provided is based on Family Expenditure Survey data between 1992 and 1996–97 and Family Resources Survey data between 1994–95 and 2002–03. Direct comparisons between information from the two surveys should not be made.

The table shows the average weekly income for pensioner units (pensioner couples and single pensioners) in 2002–03 prices and rounded to the
 
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nearest pound. Private sources of income include private pension income, investments, earnings and other types of income.
 
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Both benefit income and private income have increased significantly between 1996–97 and 2002–03, with gross income rising by 20 per cent. in real terms.

		Benefit income		Private income
	Gross income	£ per week	Percentage of total	£ per week	Percentage of total
Family Expenditure Survey data
1992	213	107	50	106	50
1993	212	113	53	99	47
1994–95	226	118	52	109	48
1995–96	232	117	51	115	49
1996–97	230	122	53	108	47
Family Resources Survey data
1994–95	220	117	53	103	47
1995–96	216	118	55	98	45
1996–97	230	121	53	108	47
1997–98	234	123	52	111	48
1998–99	243	124	51	118	49
1999–2000	252	130	52	121	48
2000–01	265	133	50	132	50
2001–02	273	138	51	133	49
2002–03	277	142	51	134	48

Notes:
1. Private and benefit income may not sum to total gross income due to rounding, and because free TV licences for over 75s are included in total income but not in either benefit or private income.
2. Percentages are calculated from unrounded cash figures.
3. Analysis consistent with Pensioners' Incomes 2002–03.
4. Family Expenditure Survey Figures are for the UK, Family Resources Survey Figures are for Great Britain.

Pensioner Income

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average pensioner income was for the financial years (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [172882]

Malcolm Wicks: Information on pensioners' incomes is available from the Family Resources Survey for 2002–3. Figures for 2003–4 are not yet available.

Information on mean and median net income before housing costs for pensioner couples and single pensioners is in the table.

	Mean net income	Median net income
Pensioner couples	327	262
Single pensioners	177	153

Source:
Pensioners' Incomes 2002–3
Notes:
1. Figures are for Great Britain
2. Figures are weekly income in 2002–3 prices
3. Net income is net of income tax and National Insurance Contributions and, local taxes.

Post Office Cards

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions why post office cards have been issued which are then replaced by new cards with identification strips; and how much it is estimated to have cost to issue the first set of cards. [175505]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 24 May 2004]: The operation of the Post Office card account is a commercial and operational matter for Post Office Ltd and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Project Funding

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many (a) solely state-financed and (b) public-private partnership and private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible have been launched in each region in each of the last 10 years; [160951]

(2) how much was spent by (a) the Government on solely state-financed projects and (b) the (i) Government and (ii) private sector on public-private and private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region. [160952]

Maria Eagle: The Department and its predecessor organisations, the former Department of Social Security and the Employment Service, launched no solely state-financed capital investment projects in the period 1993 to 2003.

The Department and its predecessors initiated a very large number of projects between 1993 and 2003. In the main these were funded from running costs but many also have an element of capital spending. Available information on private sector capital investment in public-private partnership (PPP) and private finance initiative (PFI) projects launched during the period is in the tables. Information on the Department's capital spend by project is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. All DWP PPP and PFI projects are national projects so regional information is not available.
 
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Project title	Year launched	Total Capital Value (£ million)	Capital Spend 1998–99 (£ million)	Capital Spend 1999–2000 (£ million)	Capital Spend 2000–01 (£ million)	Capital Spend 2001–02 (£ million)	Capital Spend 2002–03 (£ million)	Capital Spend 2003–40 (£ million)
No projects 1994 to 1996	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ESCOM	1997	4	1	1	1	1	—	—
PRIME	1997	959	69	26	32	15	66	9
PRIME EXPANSION	2003	—	—	—	—	—	—	10
EDS/IT Partnership       Agreement	1998	217	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
HR Partnership	1999	6	—	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Child Support Reforms	2000	3	—	—	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Strategic Outsourcing	2000	33	—	—	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Network and Office       Services	2000	9	—	—	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
New Tax Credits	2002	11	—	—	—	—	n/a	n/a
Pensions Forecasting       System	2002	0	—	—	—	—	n/a	n/a
Advanced Telephony	2003	10	—	—	—	—	—	0

Project title	Year launched	Capital Spend 2004–05 (£ million)	Capital Spend 2005–06 (£ million)	Capital Spend 2006–07 (£ million)	Is project operational	Details
ESCOM	1997	—	—	—	Operational Contract ended 31 March 2002	Computerised replacement for Employment Service paper based system, awarded to Siemens Business Services
PRIME	1997	13	18	10    1/2    1/2    1/2    1/2        1/2    1/2    1/2    1/2	Operational-Period Contract commenced 1 April 1998, ends 2018	Transfer of the ownership and management of buildings on the former DSS part of estates, and all associated risk, to the private sector. Under a 20 yr contract, Land Securities Trillium now provides DWP with fully serviced office accommodation
PRIME EXPANSION	2003	25	22	20
EDS/IT Partnership Agreement	1998	n/a	n/a	n/a	Operational-Period of contract 1 August 1998 to 31 July 2008	Provision of IT and telephony services to the Employment Service
HR Partnership	1999	n/a	—	—	Operational- Contract commenced 1 April 1999. Due to terminate on 31 March 2005	Integrated Employment Service payroll and Human Resources service awarded to Rebus HR Services and Norwich Systems Accounting
Child Support Reforms	2000	n/a	n/a	n/a	Operational- Contract ends 2010	Awarded under the DSS ACCORD framework for IS and IT services
Strategic Outsourcing	2000	n/a	n/a	n/a	Operational-Period of contract 1 September 2000 to 31 August 2010	ITSA Outsourcing. Awarded under the DSS ACCORD framework for IS and IT services
Network and Office Services	2000	n/a	n/a	n/a	Operational-Period of contract 1 June 2001 to 31 May 2006	Networks and Office Services Project (WAN). Awarded under the DSS ACCORD framework for IS and IT services
New Tax Credits	2002	n/a	n/a	n/a	June 2002 to August2010	DWP NTC project awarded to Affinity (EDS)
Pensions Forecasting System	2002	0	0	0	June 2002 to December 2006	DWP PFS awarded to Affinity (EDS)
Advanced Telephony	2003	3.4	3.5	3.5	March 2003 to March 2008	DWP Advanced Telephony Business Allocation (ATBA) with BT, signed 31 March 2003 to provide 5-year PFI route for Contact Centre Telephony. This is part on and part off balance sheet.

n/a = indicates that a year on year breakdown of expenditure is not available.
Notes:
1. In addition to the above projects there are 3 PPPs, with Affinity (EDS), Arcway (BT) and Working Links, which are strategic partnerships and as such have not in themselves involved capital investment. Any such investment is covered by the specific PFI deals set out above.
2. The PRIME capital spend by year figures do not total the total capital value of the project because the table does not cover the full 20 year period of the contract.




 
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