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8 Jul 2004 : Column 836W—continued
Disabled People (Services)
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements he has in place for monitoring statistics concerning the (a) (i) numbers and (ii) needs of and (b) supply of services to disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [182883]
Maria Eagle: The Department currently estimates that there are around 10 million adults in Great Britain who are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) (source, FRS 2002–3). This estimate will be reviewed on an annual basis. We also use a range of other estimates of the number of disabled people , including the number of disabled people receiving disability benefits. We have recently commissioned an independent review of disability estimates available at: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/ih2003–2004/IH128.pdf
The Department uses statistics from several sources, including the Labour Force Survey and Family Resources Survey, which provide information on disabled people's needs in relation to employment, benefits and income. We also conduct a range of social research projects which examine the needs of disabled people.
The Department conducts regular surveys on the use of a range of services by disabled people in Great Britain. We also collect data on receipt of benefits, employment programmes and our own services.
The Disability Rights Commission also commissions research. It commissioned a survey of disabled people's experiences of access to services in Great Britain in summer 2003 as part of work to inform and support its campaign, aimed to raise awareness of new duties on service providers regarding physical access for disabled people under Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995.
Girocheque Payments
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of girocheque payments were delayed or lost between 31 March 2002 and 1 April 2003; and how many of these late payments resulted in emergency payments to claimants, broken down by region. [178906]
Mr. Pond: Information is not available in the format requested.
The following table shows the information, which is available on Girocheques between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003.
| Girocheques issued | 43,570,325 |
| Girocheques reported not received, lost, stolen or destroyed | 288,999 |
| Number of Girocheques reported not received, lost, stolen or missing as a percentage of Girocheques issued | 0.66 |
Customers who suffer hardship as a result of delayed or lost girocheques can apply for a payment from the Social Fund. We do not keep specific data on the number of customers who apply to the Social Fund for this reason.
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Honours
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much time his Department spent dealing with honours in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by Civil Service grade. [173046]
Maria Eagle: The estimated time spent dealing with Honours in the Department from April 2003 to March 2004, broken down by Civil Service grade is shown in the table.
The majority of the work on Honours is undertaken by the Departmental Honours team and senior staff involved in selection and sift panels. Time spent in preparation for selection and sift panels is not included. Information is not available on time spent on Honours related work by other staff in the Department and its Agencies.
| Grade | Time/hours |
|---|---|
| Permanent Secretary and equivalent grades | 26 |
| Grade 2 | 14 |
| Grade 3 | 18 |
| Grade 4 | 6 |
| Grade 5 | 8 |
| HEO | 32 |
| EO x 1 (DWP Honours Secretary) | Full time |
Housing Benefit (Swale)
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what plans he has to put the administration of housing benefit in Swale out to tender; [182979]
(2) what plans he has to improve the administration of housing benefit at Swale Borough Council. [182980]
Mr. Pond: The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate is currently carrying out an inspection of benefit administration and counter-fraud activity in Swale Borough Council, with a report expected to be published in October 2004.
Once the authority has had the opportunity to respond to the report, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will consider what further action needs to be taken.
Invalid Care Allowance
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households there are where more than one person claims invalid care allowance. [182748]
Maria Eagle: Invalid Care Allowance was renamed Carer's Allowance from April 2003. The information requested is not available.
National Insurance Rebates
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 26 May to the right hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts), Official Report, columns 1717–18W, on National Insurance, if he will estimate the distribution of national insurance rebates by (a) income decile or income quartile, (b) region and (c) country. [181994]
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Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available.
Parliamentary Questions
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) ordinary written and (b) named day questions his Department received in (i) the 2002–03 session and (ii) this session. [182720]
Angela Eagle: The information is in the table.
| Ordinary written questions | Named day questions | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 November 2002 to November 2003 | 2,568 | 570 |
| 26 November 2003 to July 2004 | 1,730 | 444 |
Pension Credit
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of pension credit recipients in each region receive (a) the severe disability premium and (b) the carer's premium. [181930]
Malcolm Wicks: The information, to the most recent date for which it is available, is set out in the following table.
| Government office region | Severe disability additional amount as percentage of all pension credit recipients (households) | Carer's additional amount as percentage of all pension credit recipients (households) |
|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | 22 | 4 |
| North East | 22 | 5 |
| North West | 26 | 5 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 20 | 4 |
| East Midlands | 21 | 4 |
| West Midlands | 23 | 5 |
| East of England | 22 | 4 |
| London | 18 | 3 |
| South East | 16 | 3 |
| South West | 21 | 4 |
| Wales | 29 | 5 |
| Scotland | 27 | 4 |
Notes:
1. Percentages are given to the nearest whole number.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to sampling variation.
Pension Provision
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of individuals who are contributing to pension provision in (a) funded occupational pensions, (b) personal pensions and (c) unfunded occupational pensions. [182123]
Malcolm Wicks:
In 2000 there were some 10 million active members of occupational pension schemes in the UK, 5.7 million in private sector schemes and 4.5 million in public sector schemes including some 1.5 million in the funded local Government pension schemes.
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In 2001–02 there were some 5 million people making some contribution, individual or employer or both, to a personal or stakeholder pension. Some of these may also have been active members of an occupational pension scheme. In addition, around 0.5 million people were contributing to retirement annuity contracts.
Notes:
1. Estimates of active members of private and public occupational pension schemes are taken from the Occupational Pension Scheme Survey 2000 conducted by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD).
2. The number of public sector members in funded local government pension schemes is an unpublished Government estimate.
3. An "active" member of an occupational pension scheme is someone who is at present accruing benefits under that scheme in respect of current service, through individual or employer contributions, or both. It is possible for an individual to be an active member of more than one occupational pension scheme.
4. Estimates of the numbers of people contributing to personal and stakeholder pensions or retirement annuity contracts are based on Inland Revenue administrative data.
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