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16 Mar 2005 : Column 295W—continued
Employment Rates
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the earliest date is by which the Government expect to have achieved an employment rate equivalent to 80 per cent. of the working age population in work. [215557]
Jane Kennedy: An employment rate equivalent to 80 per cent. of the working age population in work is a long-term aspiration.
This long-term aspiration is very challenging. It will require continued macroeconomic stability and further radical welfare reform to build on the success of achieving the highest employment rate of all the G8 major industrialised countries and one of the highest employment rates in our history.
Our five-year strategy, 'Opportunity and Security throughout life' outlines how we aim to meet this challenge. With unemployment at low levels helping inactive people into work is crucial to achieving our aspiration. We must:
support children and families—including helping lone parents into work by making work possible and making work pay
help people on incapacity benefits to get the support they need to fulfil their ambitions to return to work
It will take time to achieve this. Key elements to the strategy will be the reform of incapacity benefit and the equalisation of state pension age from 2010. The principle behind the strategy is to help people to move back into work while still delivering financial security for those who need it.
Pension Service (Cold Calling)
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on cold-calling by Pension Service staff of pensioners; how many such calls the Pension Service has made in each of the last 24 months, broken down by region; whether the calls are made by Pension Service employees; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the script used by callers. [220993]
Malcolm Wicks:
The Department does not "cold call" pensioners. Telephone calls are in certain circumstances made to pensioners who may be eligible for pension
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credit to ask if they wish to apply. In all such cases the recipient would already have received at least one letter about pension credit, including one informing them that such a call might be made. The Department has also sent letters to customers to inform them of the change to Direct Payment, a safer and more secure method of paying benefits and pensions. These letters advise customers that we will try to call them if we do not hear from them.
Pensioners
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average weekly income of single (a) female and (b) male pensioners was in the latest period for which figures are available. [221603]
Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is in the table.
| Single female pensioners | Single male pensioners | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross income | 197 | 221 |
| Net income BHC | 172 | 190 |
| Net income AHC | 147 | 165 |
(26) 2002–03 prices.
Notes:
1. Incomes are presented as pounds per week. Figures for incomes are given in 2002–03 prices and rounded to the nearest pound.
2. BHC stands for "before housing costs" and AHC for "after housing costs".
3. Gross income is income from all sources received by the pensioner including income from social security benefits (including housing benefit), earnings from employment or self-employment, any private pension income, and tax credits. Net income before housing costs deducts direct taxes including council tax, net income after housing costs also deducts housing costs which include rent, water rates and mortgage payments.
Source:
The Pensioners' Incomes Series 2002–03 (which is based on data from the Family Resources Survey).
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in (a) Plymouth, Sutton, (b) Plymouth, Devonport and (c) South West Devon received pension credit in the latest month for which figures are available. [221608]
Malcolm Wicks: Information on numbers of households and individuals in receipt of pension credit in each constituency at 31 December 2004 is contained in the most recent quarterly pension credit progress report, which was published on 3 February. A copy of the report is in the Library.
Pensions
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department keeps a record of the number of lost application forms for pension credit. [221894]
Mr. Pond:
The Department does not keep a central record of the number of lost application forms. However, between April 2004 and February 2005 the
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pension credit application line was contacted in 714 cases by customers who had not received their forms. Appropriate action is taken as soon as possible when the application line is informed that a customer has not received his or her form.
Statistics
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the publication dates of statistics to be released by his Department and its agencies during the next year. [219747]
Mr. Pond:
The majority of the Department's statistics are released quarterly on the internet and summarised in the DWP Statistical Summary. They are scheduled to be issued on the following dates in the coming year:
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The Department's statisticians have recently completed a consultation about improvements to the data sources and coverage of benefit statistics. The outcome of the consultation has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at http//www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/stats_consultation/DWP_Response_to_External_ Consultation.pdf. Further details, including the effect on the publication schedule, will be released in the summer.
Publication dates for other DWP statistics prepared by members of the Government Statistical Services are currently scheduled as follows:
Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Tamworth have received (a) full and (b) partial grants from the Access to Work programme in each year since its introduction. [221934]
Maria Eagle: Access to Work grants are not broken down into full or partial grants. The Access to Work programme assesses the needs of individuals and, within Access to Work guidelines, offers a grant required by the applicant to help them overcome the particular barriers they face in their workplace.
Information is not available broken down by constituency. The available information for the West Midlands Jobcentre Plus region is in the table.
Notes:
1. New beneficiary figures relate to people receiving Access to Work assistance for the first time.
2. Information is not available broken down by region before 1999.
3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
DWP Disability and Rehabilitation Division
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners were in receipt of winter fuel payments in Tamworth in 2004–05. [221935]
Malcolm Wicks:
Information on the number of pensioners in Tamworth who received a winter fuel payment in winter 2003–04 is in the Library. Information on winter 2004–05 is not yet available but we expect the number to be similar.
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