| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1037W—continued
Income Support (Carer Premium)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the carer premium in income support was in (a) 1997 and (b) October. [191223]
Mr. Pond: The information requested is shown in the table:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| April 1996 to April 1997 | 13.00 |
| From April 1997 | 13.35 |
| From April 2004(24) | 25.55 |
(24) Including October 2004.
Source:
Annual benefit Uprating Schedules.
Ministerial Expenses
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Department spent on (a) maintenance, (b) renovation, (c) council tax and (d) running costs of residential properties used by Ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [191404]
Maria Eagle: The Department for Work and Pensions has no residential properties used by Ministers or officials on its estate.
Mobile Phones
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mobile phones were used by (a) Ministers and special advisers and (b) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; how many were (i) lost and (ii) stolen; and what their cost was. [191430]
Maria Eagle: Information is not available in the format requested.
Central records of mobile phones were not held until 1 November 2003. At that date, nine were used by Ministers and special advisers, and 11,950 were used by the Department's officials.
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1038W
As of 11 October 2004, eight mobile phones were used by Ministers and special advisers and 13,605 used by officials.
Information on the number and associated costs of mobile phones lost or stolen is not collected.
Parenting Skills
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has recently (a) published and (b) commissioned on the effects of parenting on life chances for children. [193593]
Mr. Pond: We have published a number of reports which include evidence on the effect of parenting on life chances for children. Since 2003 the Department has published:
Families and Children 2001: Living standards and the children, DWP Research Report 190 (July 2003).
Families and Children in Britain: Findings from the 2002 Families and Children Study. DWP Research Report 206 (March 2004).
The British Lone Parent cohort and their children 1991 to 2001, DWP Research Report 209 (April 2004).
These research reports are all available in the Library.
In addition the Department has two recently commissioned research projects. Findings will be published when they become available. The two projects are:
The effects of low income, material deprivation and parental employment on outcomes for children both in adulthood and as children.
The Families and Children Study—Wave 5 report.
Pension Credit
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Leeds West are receiving the savings element of the pension credit. [192680]
Malcolm Wicks: At 31 August 2004, 3,235 households in Leeds West, comprising 3,835 individuals, were receiving the savings element of pension credit.
Pension/Benefit Payments
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long on average UK banks took to process pension payments in the last period for which figures are available. [190715]
Mr. Pond: Payments are credited to a customer's bank account on the day the customer is due to receive payment. The overall timescale to process payments to banks through the BACS system is three days and is the same for all benefit and pension payments, made by Direct Payment.
Banks receive payment information on the second day of the BACS three day cycle and are committed to having customer's accounts credited by 9.30 am on day three of the BACS cycle. For the Post Office card account, Citibank provides credits to customers accounts by 9.00 am on day three of the BACS cycle i.e. in time for the normal opening of most post offices.
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1039W
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with Citibank about customer service arrangements for pensioners receiving pension payments through the post office. [190809]
Mr. Pond: There have been no discussions between the Department of Work and Pensions and Citibank about customer service arrangements for pensioners receiving pension payments through the post office.
DWP has a contract with Post Office Ltd. for the provision of card account services at post offices. Post Office Ltd., in turn, has contracts with their suppliers, for the provision of card account services. DWP has no direct contractual relationship with Citibank, regarding the post office card account.
However, following the disruption to the post office card account service on 23 August, I spoke to the Chief Executive of Post Office Ltd. on 3 September and met senior post office directors on 6 September. I made clear that the Government did not expect pensioners to have to pay back money they may have withdrawn in good faith. I am pleased that post office's suppliers subsequently agreed not to pursue money which they had paid in error and which customers had already withdrawn.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost is of making a weekly pension payment through (a) a Giro cheque payment and (b) a pension payment book. [190457]
Mr. Pond: Pensioners are not currently paid weekly by cheque. Girocheques are no longer issued, but before the move to direct payment cost £1.47 each. The current cost of a weekly payment by order book is about £1.10 and will increase as the number of order books falls away.
Payments directly into a bank or building society account currently cost only about 1p per transaction, showing how much more efficient Direct Payment is. And recently published research has shown that Direct Payment is proving very popular with customers and is easy to use.
All figures quoted relate to the average cost across all customers, not just pensioners.
Pensioner Income
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average weekly income of (a) a pensioner couple and (b) a single pensioner was in (i) real and (ii) cash terms in (A) 1997 and (B) October in (1) the UK, (2) Yorkshire and Humber and (3) the City of York. [191224]
Malcolm Wicks: Information is not available in the format requested. Data for pensioners' incomes in the City for York are not available; for Great Britain the most recent data that are available are for 2002–03.
The average weekly net income for pensioner couples and single pensioners in Great Britain is set out in the table.
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1040W
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 2002–03 | |
| Pensioner couples | ||
| Real terms | 287 | 327 |
| Cash terms | 249 | 327 |
| Single pensioners | ||
| Real terms | 145 | 177 |
| Cash terms | 125 | 177 |
Note:
Real figures are in 2002–03 prices.
Source:
Pensioners' Incomes Series 2002–03 based on the Family Resources Survey data for Great Britain.
Regional data in the Pensioners' Income publication are compiled from three years of Family Resources Survey data (2000–01, 2001–02, and 2002–03) to ensure statistical robustness. The following table shows the net weekly income, in 2002–03 prices, for pensioner couples and single pensioners in Yorkshire and the Humber and in Great Britain, on this basis.
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Yorkshire and the Humber | Great Britain | |
| Pensioner couples | 289 | 329 |
| Single pensioners | 167 | 173 |
Note:
Figures are in 2002–03 prices.
Source:
Pensioners' Incomes Series 2002–03 based on the Family Resources Survey data from 2000–01, 2001–02, and 2002–03.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |