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13 Sept 2004 : Column 1395W—continued
Quad Bikes
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has carried out an investigation into the number of quad bike accidents reported affecting British residents while on holiday abroad; and if he will list the resorts which have had the worst accident record in 2004. [188399]
Mr. Jamieson: The information requested is not available.
Road Kill
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of (a) dogs, (b) cats, (c) badgers, (d) deer, (e) foxes, (f) hedgehogs, (g) rabbits and (h) squirrels killed as a result of road traffic accidents in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of each were recorded. [188381]
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Mr. Jamieson: The information requested is not available.
Road Safety
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of the (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries on roads were attributable to speed in the last year for which figures are available. [186763]
Mr. Darling: Routine statistics do not record the primary cause of a road accident. However, under a pilot scheme, 15 police forces in Great Britain have provided information on contributory factors to accidents since 1999. In 2003 this information was available for about a third of all reported injury accidents in Great Britain. Among these, 30 per cent. of fatalities and 20 per cent. of serious casualties were in accidents where 'excessive speed' was a factor.
If the results from the pilot scheme were representative of the whole country, it would mean that over 1,000 deaths and about 6,600 serious injuries in Great Britain in 2003 were sustained in accidents where 'excessive speed' was a contributory factor.
The contributory factor data are based on the opinions of police officers. In the case of accidents reported by a member of the public at a police station, these factors have to be determined from their description of the accident.
The true extent of the influence of speed as a contributory factor in road traffic accidents may be greater than suggested by the single factor 'excessive speed', as some other factors—such as 'following too close'—may also be associated with inappropriate speed. My Department is undertaking further analysis of the pilot contributory factor data and will publish an article later in the year.
Starting in January 2005 this pilot scheme will be replaced by a new set of questions on contributory factors, which will henceforward form an integral part of the road accident reporting system and will be collected by all police forces for accidents reported at scene by a police officer.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his review of speed limits will be published; when he commissioned his review of speed limits; and how long he originally expected that his review of speed limits would take. [188459]
Mr. Jamieson: The Road Safety Strategy, published in March 2000 gave a commitment to revise and update our guidance to local authorities on the setting of local speed limits, currently in the form of Circular Roads 1/93. We will shortly issue a consultation draft of a revised Circular for comment, and we expect to finalise and publish the Circular early in 2005. In January this year we published a Traffic Advisory Leaflet on village speed limits, recommending that the speed limit should usually be 30 miles per hour.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of accidents which were due to motorists failing to comply with recommended stopping distances in each of the last five years. [188559]
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Mr. Jamieson: The information requested is not available.
Transport Bodies (Costs)
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) cost of recruitment was and (b) total cumulative salary bill has been for (i) the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency and (ii) the Chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport and (iii) the Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority. [186399]
Mr. McNulty: The total cost of recruitment including advertising costs for the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency in 2003 was £53,977. Details of the remuneration paid to the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency can be found in the Agency's Annual Reports.
For the Chairman of the UK Commission for Integrated Transport, the recruitment costs specifically attributable to this post are not held separately. The most recent Chair appointment was in March 2002. The remuneration for the post is £30,000 pa with the Chair expected to work five days per month.
Full details of the payments made to the Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority can be found in the Authority's Annual Reports. The recruitment costs specifically attributable to this post are not held separately.
US Visas
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations the Government have made to United States authorities regarding the decision to abolish the crew list visa scheme. [188432]
Mr. Jamieson: The Government made representations to the US authorities on two occasions, in co-operation with a number of other governments, in response to the proposals to abolish the crew list visa scheme.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Children in Poverty
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate the Government have made of the number of children living in poverty who lived outside the 20 per cent. most deprived wards in each year since 1997. [187369]
Mr. Pond: The Government's figures for children in low income households are available in "Households Below Average Income 1994–95 to 2002–03". This information is not available below regional level. The report is available in the Library.
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government (a) expect to meet and (b) have met their target for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the first quarter of 2004; and if he will make a statement. [186805]
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Mr. Pond: The Government have a PSA target to reduce the number of children in low-income households by at least a quarter by 2004, as a contribution towards the broader target of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.
Between the baseline year of 1998–99 and 2002–03, the number of children in low income households has fallen by 500,000 before housing costs and 600,000 after housing costs. We will report on the target in spring 2006 when the data for 2004–05 become available.
The latest available data (2002–03) do not reflect the introduction of new tax credits in April 2003 or the increase in the child element of the child tax credit in April 2004. We are broadly on course to meet the PSA target.
Pensions
Mr. Anthony D. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average weekly pension in Great Yarmouth in each year since 1997 if pensions had been linked to earnings. [186701]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. However, such information as is available is in the table.
As at April each year | Average State Pension in Great Yarmouth | Average State Pension in Great Yarmouth with basic State Pension uprated by earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 68.90 | 70.55 |
| 2000 | 69.95 | 73.65 |
| 2001 | 75.60 | 77.35 |
| 2002 | 78.65 | 81.15 |
| 2003 | 81.30 | 84.70 |
Notes:
1. The change in the overall rate of basic State Pension for any given year is estimated by comparing the actual maximum rate of basic State Pension for that year with the rate if earnings uprating had been in place. The average recorded basic State Pension in Great Yarmouth for each individual year is then increased proportionately to reflect the difference.
2. It is assumed that basic State Pension was uprated by earnings from 1998 onwards. It is assumed that additional State Pension would still be uprated in line with prices. The average additional State Pension in Great Yarmouth each year is then added to the adjusted average basic amount to provide the total average State Pension.
3. Figures for actual State Pension amounts are taken from 5 per cent. sample of September's DWP administrative data for the year shown and are therefore subject to a high degree of sampling variation.
4. Figures for individual parliamentary constituencies are not available prior to 1999.
5. The figures shown in the table are weekly amounts rounded to the nearest 5p.
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the additional costs in (a) 2015, (b) 2025, (c) 2035 and (d) 2045 of having a state second pension accrual rate that would guarantee all workers with 40 years of full-time employment sufficient pension to make them ineligible at (i) age 75 and (ii) retirement for the guarantee part of the pension credit if the basic state
13 Sept 2004 : Column 1399W
pension were to be uprated in line with (A) prices, (B) earnings and (C) the average of earnings and prices [186851]
Malcolm Wicks: It is estimated that for a single person retiring in 2045, in order for the combined value of basic State Pension (BSP) and State Second Pension (S2P) to exceed the level of the Guarantee Credit, the additional spending on state pension required is as follows.
| 2015 | 2025 | 2035 | 2045 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (i) At age 75 | S2P | 0.8 | 3.5 | 9.2 | 19.6 |
| (ii) At retirement | S2P | 0.3 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 8.2 |
| BSP | — | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 2025 | 2035 | 2045 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| () At age 75 | S2P | — | — | — | — |
| (ii) At retirement | S2P | — | — | — | — |
| BSP | 9.6 | 23.7 | 45.8 | 69.3 |
Note:
No change to S2P accrual or spending would be required under part B.
| 2015 | 2025 | 2035 | 2045 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (i) At age 75 | S2P | 0.4 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 8.3 |
| (ii) At retirement | S2P | — | — | — | — |
| BSP | 4.1 | 9.3 | 17.1 | 24.4 |
Notes:
1. No change to S2P accrual or spending would be required under part C ii.
2. Figures are costs for GB and Overseas in 2004–05 price terms, using the GDP deflator index, rounded to the nearest £100 million.
3. Costs are for additional spending on Basic and State Second Pension and do not include any increased income tax revenue or savings in income related benefits. Costs are estimated by the Government Actuary's Department and are consistent with Budget 2004 assumptions and use 2002 based population projections. Accrual rates were calculated by the Department.
4. Except where stated, current policy on calculation and uprating of benefits is assumed to continue and long-term assumptions are in line with those for budget 2004. The guarantee credit is therefore increased in line with average earnings.
5. Increasing basic State Pension by more than prices as in parts B and C of this question will result in additional spending on basic State Pension.
6. Costs also exclude any changes that might occur to contracting out rebates.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the assumptions are for the number and percentage of eligible pensioners taking up pension credit that underlie his pensioner benefit expenditure projections for (a) 2003–04, (b) 2013–14, (c) 2023–24, (d) 2033–34, (e) 2043–44 and (f) 2053–54. [187352]
Malcolm Wicks:
The Government do not currently produce long-term projections of the pension credit caseload. In the interests of fiscal propriety they do issue long-term expenditure projections. Tabled are the caseloads underlying the projected expenditure.
13 Sept 2004 : Column 1400W
Numbers of pensioner households claiming pension credit underlying the long-term projections of pensioner benefit expenditure are as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,300,000 |
| 2020 | 3,900,000 |
| 2030 | 5,000,000 |
| 2040 | 5,900,000 |
| 2050 | 6,100,000 |
These figures represent take-up of around 75 per cent., corresponding to the achievement of the PSA target of 3,000,000 pension credit households by 2006.
Estimates have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 cases, are subject to a wide margin of error and should be used only as broad indications of the likely caseload.
The methodology behind the long-term projections was described in more detail in "The Pension Credit: Long-term Projections", published by the Department in January 2002. A projected growth rate in pension credit spending is derived by applying income growth assumptions and demography projections to the sample pensioner population in the Department's Policy Simulation Model. This growth rate is applied to the medium-term forecast of pension credit expenditure.
"The Pension Credit: Long-term Projections" (ref : DWP-PCP-2) is available in the Library and can be found on the internet at: www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2002/pencred/pencred.pdf
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