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19 Jul 2004 : Column 76W—continued
Child Support
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what factors underlie the decision not to reward parents coming off benefits and into full-time education with the child maintenance bonus under the old scheme and child maintenance premium under the new scheme. [181629]
Mr. Pond: The child maintenance bonus is a measure to provide an incentive for parents with care to go into work.
The child maintenance premium is a disregard of income for parents with care who are in receipt of either income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance. When a parent with care ceases to receive income-related benefit, she will receive all of the maintenance paid.
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Child Support Agency
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects Child Support Agency cases assessed under the old legislation to be transferred for assessment under the new legislation. [184734]
Mr. Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1092W.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason maintenance from non-resident parents which is uncollected by the Child Support Agency will be disregarded and written off. [183286]
Mr. Pond: The Child Support Agency has no powers to write-off debt.
Legislation provides for a non-resident parent to cease to be liable for a proportion of his arrears in certain tightly defined circumstances. In such cases the Secretary of State may make a payment to the parent with care.
Compensation Recovery Unit
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims were registered with the Compensation Recovery Unit in respect of accidents and illnesses at work; how many resulted in repayment of benefit in such cases; and what the total amount of benefit recovered was. [185163]
Jane Kennedy: The information is in the table.
| Cause | 2002–03 | 2003–04 |
|---|---|---|
| Claims received via employer liability | ||
| Accident | 92,915 | 79,286 |
| Disease | 90,427 | 211,924 |
| Claims resulting in repayment of benefit | ||
| Accident | 111,322 | 115,214 |
| Disease | 75,028 | 100,506 |
| Amount recovered | ||
| Accident (£) | 65,121,648 | 65,934,190 |
| Disease (£) | 37,334,756 | 39,054,286 |
Note:
The figures of claims resulting in repayment of benefit include some received in, and carried forward from, the previous year.
Source:
Compensation Recovery Unit Database.
Hearing Loss
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of evidence about the cumulative effects of hearing loss occasioned by war-time noise combined with age related hearing loss. [183610]
Mr. Caplin: I have been asked to reply.
The current scientific understanding of noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss is that it does not get worse on removal from the noise giving rise to the injury and that, in the context of the War Pensions Scheme, hearing loss
19 Jul 2004 : Column 78W
due to noise and that due to subsequent effects of age are not more than additive. This is the basis on which the Department considers claims for hearing loss due to service in the armed forces.
In terms of specific assessments of the effects of hearing loss, in 1997 Baroness Hollis, the Minister then responsible for war pensions, asked the then Government Chief Medical Officer, Sir Kenneth Calman, to chair an independent expert review of the assessment of hearing loss in the War Pensions Scheme. Both that independent review and a further departmental review in February 1999 confirmed that the Department's approach to the assessment of hearing loss in war pensions was in line with current scientific and medical understanding. Since early 1999 emerging evidence on the matter has continued to be monitored.
The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council, an independent non-governmental body which advises the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on matters relating to the Industrial Injuries Scheme, published their review of occupational deafness in November 2002 (Cm 5672). This confirmed the War Pensions Scheme approach to assessment.
New Deal for Young People
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many school leavers joined the New Deal programme in Havering in (a) 1999, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003. [184244]
Jane Kennedy: Information on whether people joining New Deal are school leavers is not available.
Information on the numbers of young people joining New Deal for Young People in Havering, and their ages on joining, is in the table.
| Age on joining | 1999 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 70 | 60 | 80 |
| 19 | 80 | 70 | 70 |
| 20 | 70 | 60 | 60 |
| 21 | 60 | 40 | 60 |
| 22 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| 23 | 50 | 40 | 50 |
| 24 | 60 | 40 | 50 |
| Total | 450 | 360 | 430 |
Notes:
1. All figures are for January to December each year.
2. All figures are starts rather than individuals and may include people who have started New Deal more than once.
3. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
4. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Source:
DWP Information and Analysis Directorate.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2004, Official Report, columns 1341–42W, what the average cost per place on each of the four options in the New Deal for Young People was in the last 12 months. [182122]
Jane Kennedy:
The information is not available.
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It is intended that a unit cost system, capable of capturing this type of information, will be part of the system implementation of the Resource Management System. The system is currently still in the design and development stage and we anticipate that roll out will commence from late 2005.
Occupational/Personal Pensions
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the percentage of employees in each decile of employee incomes who do not contribute to an occupational or personal pension. [185168]
Malcolm Wicks: The proportion of employees of working age that have no pension provision by earnings deciles in 2002–03 is shown in the table.
| Decile | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Low | 81 |
| 2 | 62 |
| 3 | 59 |
| 4 | 48 |
| 5 | 42 |
| 6 | 36 |
| 7 | 27 |
| 8 | 22 |
| 9 | 16 |
| High | 13 |
Notes:
1. All figures are estimates derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) 2002–03, the latest year for which data is available. The coverage of the survey is the UK.
2. Estimates show the proportion of working age employees with no pension provision within the deciles of the overall working age gross earnings distribution.
3. People with no pension provision are defined as those who are not members of an occupational pension and not currently contributing to a personal or stakeholder pension scheme.
4. Employees have been defined as full-time and part-time employees.
5. Working age has been defined as 20–59 for women and 20–64 for men.
6. Earnings deciles have been defined in relation to working age gross earnings for employees.
Source:
Family Resources Survey 2002–03.
Post Office Card Accounts
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit recipients have changed their method of payment from payment into a bank account to payment into a Post Office card account since the beginning of direct payment. [184630]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested.
Figures supplied are for benefit accounts not benefit recipients. A benefit recipient may have more than one benefit account.
The Post Office card account has been available since April 2003.
The number of benefit accounts that have changed from a bank account to a Post Office card account from April 2003 to May 2004 is 12,625.
19 Jul 2004 : Column 80W
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit recipients have changed their method of payment from payment into a Post Office card account to payment into a bank account since the beginning of direct payment. [184631]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested.
Figures supplied are for benefit accounts not benefit recipients. A benefit recipient may have more than one benefit account.
The Post Office card account has been available since April 2003.
The number of benefit accounts that have changed from a Post Office card account to a bank account from April 2003 to May 2004 is 5,765.
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