| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
16 Dec 2004 : Column 1302W—continued
Overseas British Pensioners
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will estimate how many British pensioners are living abroad; [205321]
(2) if he will estimate how many British pensioners are living abroad in countries where UK pensions (a) are and (b) are not uprated; [205322]
(3) if he will estimate the additional cost to the Exchequer that would be incurred if the pension for British citizens living abroad in countries where the pension is not uprated were to receive the full uprate. [205323]
Malcolm Wicks: We uprate the state pension in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement or where there is a legal requirement to do so.
The number of people in receipt of state pension who are resident outside Great Britain is 970,000, of whom: 520,000 reside in countries where the state pension is not uprated and 450,000 reside in countries where the state pension is uprated.
16 Dec 2004 : Column 1303W
If all state pensions paid to people residing outside Great Britain were to be fully uprated and thereafter paid at the rate they would have been had the individuals concerned remained in Great Britain, the estimated extra cost in 2004–05 would be around £400 million and would increase year on year.
Pension Credit
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in (a) Burnley and (b) Lancashire are in receipt of pension credit. [204503]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is given in the following table.
| Households | Individuals | |
|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 4,940 | 5,925 |
| Lancashire | 53,775 | 65,640 |
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
2. Figures are available for 31 October 2004 as the final output of processes that were put in place to deliver special monthly reporting during the first year of the roll-out of pension credit. As Parliament was told in the statement accompanying the last such report, data will in future be available on a quarterly basis, in line with standard departmental practice. The next report, covering data as at 31 December 2004, should be laid in the House in January 2005.
3. Individual recipients may include a small number of partners under age 60.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) individuals and (b) households were receiving (i) pension credit and (ii) the savings component of pension credit in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central constituency as at 30 September; and what the average award was in each case. [204614]
Malcolm Wicks: Information on numbers of pension credit recipients in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central and the average level of awards at 30 September and 31 October, where available, is given in the following tables. The average award of the savings element in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central at the end of May 2004, the latest date for which this figure is available, was £7.89.
16 Dec 2004 : Column 1304W
Notes:
1. Numbers of recipients are rounded to the nearest five.
2. Figures are available for 31 October 2004 as the final output of processes that were put in place to deliver special monthly reporting during the first year of the roll-out of pension credit. As Parliament was told in the statement accompanying the last such report, data will in future be available on a quarterly basis, in line with standard departmental practice. The next report, covering data as at 31 December 2004, should be laid in the House in January 2005.
3. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.
4. The numbers of households and individuals in receipt of the savings element include those who were receiving the savings element only and those who were receiving both the savings and guarantee elements.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the latest estimate is of the number of pensioners in the Ribble Valley and Fulwood; how many are entitled to pension credit; and how many have taken up pension credit. [205063]
Malcolm Wicks: The most recent estimates of pensioner population by parliamentary constituency are contained in "Census 2001—Census Area Statistics for Parliamentary Constituencies in England and Wales", which is available in the Library. This shows that there were 21,338 people aged 60 or over living in the Ribble Valley constituency on Census Day. Information on the number of pensioners likely to be eligible for pension credit is not available at constituency level. Information on the number of pension credit recipients in the Ribble Valley constituency is given in the table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Households | 2,855 |
| Individuals | 3,380 |
Notes:
1. Figures in the table are rounded to the nearest five.
2. Figures are available for 31 October 2004 as the final output of processes that were put in place to deliver special monthly reporting during the first year of the roll-out of pension credit. As Parliament was told in the statement accompanying the last such report, data will in future be available on a quarterly basis, in line with standard departmental practice. The next report, covering data as at 31 December 2004, should be laid in the House in January 2005.
3. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Perth constituency are in receipt of (a) pension credit and (b) pension savings credit. [205445]
16 Dec 2004 : Column 1305W
Malcolm Wicks: The information is given in the following table.
| Households | Individuals | |
|---|---|---|
| Pension credit | 3,635 | 4,305 |
| Savings element of pension credit | 2,730 | 3,225 |
Notes:
1. Numbers of recipients are rounded to the nearest five.
2. Figures are available for 31 October 2004 as the final output of processes that were put in place to deliver special monthly reporting during the first year of the roll-out of pension credit. As Parliament was told in the statement accompanying the last such report, data will in future be available on a quarterly basis, in line with standard departmental practice. The next report, covering data as at 31 December 2004, should be laid in the House in January 2005.
3. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.
4. The numbers of households and individuals in receipt of the savings element include those who were receiving the savings element only and those who were receiving both the savings and guarantee elements.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004 departmental special advisers travelled (a) domestically and (b) abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [202246]
Maria Eagle: The special advisers for the Department for Work and Pensions did not travel abroad on any occasion between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004.
The special advisers did occasionally travel domestically in an official capacity during this period. On six of these occasions the advisers travelled by train with two visits to Newcastle, one to Manchester, one to Rotherham, one to Wakefield and one to Sheffield, each of these at the cost of standard open return ticket.
16 Dec 2004 : Column 1306W
These visits were undertaken in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |