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11 Nov 2004 : Column 911W—continued
Ministers' Private Offices
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the running costs of Ministers' private offices in his Department have been in each year since 1997. [191391]
Maria Eagle:
The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the former Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the Employment Service. Expenditure prior to June 2001 relates solely to the former Department of Social Security.
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| Cost (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 3,200,000 |
| 2002–03 | 2,900,000 |
| 2001–02 | 2,600,000 |
| 2000–01 | 2,500,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,600,000 |
| 1998–99 | 2,300,000 |
Notes:
1. Information for 1997–98 is not available.
2. Running costs cover the cash spend on the day-to-day expenditure for Ministers' private offices including: Ministers' and officials' civil service pay, travel and subsistence; resource spending on accommodation; capital charges; and office services, stationery, postage, and IT equipment.
Pension Credit
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of pension credit in (a) Scotland and (b) the City of Edinburgh local authority area. [195154]
Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of pension credit recipients in (a) Scotland and (b) the City of Edinburgh local authority area at the end of September is given in the table.
| Households | Individuals | |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 273,395 | 327,225 |
| City of Edinburgh | 17,290 | 20,070 |
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five
2. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) of 27 October 2004, Official Report, column 1289W, on pension credit, what the absolute figures for the male and female population aged 60 used for the answer were; and how many (a) men and (b) women are receiving pension credit. [196448]
Malcolm Wicks: The figures on which the answer was based are given in the following table. At 30 September there were (a) 1,067,650 male and (b) 2,117,030 female individual recipients of pension credit in Great Britain.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
2. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living in the Weston-super-Mare constituency are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of pension credit. [196695]
11 Nov 2004 : Column 913W
Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of people likely to be eligible for pension credit is not available at constituency level. However, we estimate that approximately 300,000 households in the South West Government Office Region (GOR), corresponding to approximately 400,000 individuals—rounded to the nearest 50,000—are likely to be eligible for pension credit in 2004–05. Information on the number of pension credit recipients in the South West GOR and in Weston-super-Mare at the end of September is given in the table.
| Households | Individuals | |
|---|---|---|
| South West GOR | 217,195 | 265,250 |
| Weston-super-Mare | 5,080 | 6,145 |
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
2. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.
Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of pension credit in the Manchester, Withington constituency. [196910]
Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of people likely to be eligible for pension credit is not available at constituency level. However, we estimate that approximately 500,000 households in the North West Government Office Region (GOR), corresponding to approximately 600,000 individuals (rounded to the nearest 50,000), are likely to be eligible for pension credit in 2004–05. Information on the number of pension credit recipients in the North West GOR and in Manchester Withington at the end of September is given in the table.
| Households | Individuals | |
|---|---|---|
| North West GOR | 348,525 | 420,680 |
| Manchester Withington | 4,010 | 4,690 |
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
2. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.
Pension Service
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many letters of invitation were sent by the Pension Service to people coming up to pensionable age during the last financial year. [196537]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of automatic invitations issued to customers inviting a claim to state pension during the period April 2003 to March 2004 was 607,719.
Pensioners Poverty
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of eradicating pensioner poverty. [196030]
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Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available. Poverty and social exclusion are complex and multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of peoples' lives—including their living standards, health, housing, the quality of their environment and not just low income. It is not therefore possible to estimate the cost of eradicating poverty with any assurance.
The sixth annual "Opportunity for all" report (Cm 6239) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of measures. In 2002–03 the Government spent £6 billion a year more on pensioners than we would if policies in 1997 had continued. This helped to cut the number of pensioners in low income (in households under 60 per cent. of median income after housing costs) from £2.7 million to £2.2 million in 2002–03 (which does not reflect the introduction of pension credit). This year the Government is spending £10 billion more than we did under 1997 policies, of which £5 billion goes to the poorest third.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Department's estimate is of the number of pensioners in the UK. [197536]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government Actuary's Department currently estimates that there were 11.126 million pensioners in the UK at mid-year 2004. A pensioner is considered to be an individual over state pension age.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid in means-tested benefits to pensioners in each year since 1999. [197552]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table.
Notes:
1. All figures have been rounded to the nearest £ million.
2. All figures quoted are income related benefits paid to people aged 60 and over.
3. Totals include minimum income guarantee/pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit.
Source:
Figures as at Spending Review 2004, published on the internet at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp. table 7.
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