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Pension Protection Fund

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his proposed fund to offer financial assistance to workers who have lost their pension rights in private schemes will cover employees of foreign owned entities; and if he will make a statement. [184749]

Malcolm Wicks: The details of the financial assistance scheme, including the eligibility of employees of foreign owned entities, will be developed through consultation with stakeholders such as pension scheme trustees, trades unions and key business representatives. Until this work has been completed we will not be in a position to give any scheme members assurances that they will be covered. To do otherwise could be misleading.

Pensioners (Domiciled Abroad)

Mr. Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements are in place for the payment of (a) state pension and (b) other benefits to UK senior citizens who retire to (i) another EU state, (ii) Norway, (iii) Switzerland, (iv) the USA and (v) Australia; what the current value is of a UK state pension paid to an individual who retired to each of these countries in (A) 1985, (B) 1995 and (C) 2000; and if he will estimate the cumulative difference in the total value of pensions such an individual would have received in each of the stated areas compared to an individual who retired in the UK. [184368]

 
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Malcolm Wicks: The Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows:

Payment of a UK State Pension is not affected by a person's country of residence during retirement. However, where a pensioner lives outside the UK, the State Pension is not uprated unless he or she is living in a country in respect of which EC legislation or a reciprocal agreement provides for uprating.

The European social security co-ordinating regulations contain rules which set out whether UK benefits are paid in another Member State (Regulation 1408/71). From June 2002 Switzerland is also covered by these regulations. UK pensioners who live in another Member State or Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland or Switzerland may receive UK benefits there. This will depend on whether the benefits are covered by the coordinating regulations, the nationality of the person and which state they are living in.

The table shows the cumulative value, from 1 April 1985, 1995 and 2000 respectively to the end of the 2003/04 financial year, of upratings of a full basic State Pension (excluding age additions) which a person would have received if:

a) he remained entitled to a full basic State Pension; and

b) he was continuously resident in a country in respect of which either legislation or a reciprocal agreement provided for the uprating of State Pension.
£

Date	Rate of full basic State Pension per week	Cumulative value of year on basic State Pension
1 April 1985	35.80	20,467.95
1 April 1995	57.60	4,626.35
1 April 2000	66.75	1,360.10

Polygamous Spouses

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the total value of benefits paid to polygamous spouses was in each of the last five years; [185671]

(2) how many polygamous spouses are in receipt of benefits from his Department. [185672]

 
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Mr. Pond: The information is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Post Office Card Accounts

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether staff in the Department are permitted to dissuade benefit recipients from opening Post Office Card Accounts; [184628]

(2) how many people who are not in receipt of benefits have opened a Post Office Card Account. [184629]

Mr. Pond: Staff in the Department for Work and Pensions do not in any way discourage customers from opening Post Office card accounts.

All Department for Work and Pensions staff have been provided with information on all of the account options available to the customer. The role of our staff is to provide factual information on the features of the different account options available to the customer. The customer can then decide which type of account they choose to have their money paid into based on their individual needs and circumstances.

Many customers are choosing the Post Office card account option, with 2.8 million having opened one so far.

The Post Office card account is available only to those in receipt of benefits, state pensions and tax credits.

However, it is important that customers are made aware that the Post Office card account is not the only account that can be used at post offices.

Renewable Energy

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of electricity used by buildings in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies has come from renewable sources for each year from 1997 to date. [181394]

Mr. Pond: DWP was set up in June 2001. The proportion of electricity it has obtained from renewable sources has been 25 per cent. and 21.4 per cent. in 2001–02 and 2002–03 respectively.

It is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of consumption to Agency level, as invariably DWP buildings are occupied by a number of the Department's businesses.

Information for 2003–04 will be reported in the next Sustainable Development in Government report in November 2004.

The Department continues to exceed the target for sourcing 10 per cent. of its electricity from renewable sources, as set out in the "Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate". The framework can be found on the Sustainable Development in Government website.

Referrals for Medical Advice (Claimants)

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals for medical advice were made by staff of his Department when assessing the capacity of a claimant to manage his/her financial affairs in 2002–03. [182700]

 
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Maria Eagle: The Department does not normally require a report by a qualified medical officer before granting an appointeeship. A visiting officer will make an independent assessment of a customer's ability to manage his or her own affairs based on Department guidelines. In cases where there is some doubt the opinion of a suitably qualified professional may be sought, for example a social worker, community psychiatric nurse or general practitioner.

Information is not available on of the number of interviews that are undertaken.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what training staff of his Department receive prior to undertaking assessments of a claimant's capacity to manage their own financial affairs; [182698]

(2) what guidance is given to staff of his Department on appointeeship; when this guidance was last updated; and whether it is available to the public (a) through the Department's website and (b) from local offices. [182727]

Maria Eagle: A wide range of training is available to staff undertaking assessments of a person's capacity to manage their own affairs, including training on disability awareness, and working with vulnerable groups, which contains specific training regarding dealing with people with mental health problems. In addition new visiting officers will spend time accompanying more experienced members of staff as part of their training.

All staff have access to guidance in the Agents, Attorneys, Appointees and Receivers Guide, which is currently being updated. While there is currently no specific training about undertaking an assessment of a person's capacity to manage their own financial affairs, a new training product is currently being developed which will help staff identify who may need an appointee.

The Department's internal guidance is not available to members of the public.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average number of working days lost per person due to sickness absence in (a) his Department and (b) each of its business areas was in 2003–04. [184674]

Maria Eagle: The information required for 2003–04 is in the table.

	Average working days lost
DWP	12.6
Jobcentre Plus	12.7
The Pension Service	12.1
Child Support Agency	15.6
Disability and Carers	11.9
The Appeals Service	11.2
Corporate centre	10.2

 
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