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Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the value of passported benefits is taken into account when figures on marginal deduction rates are produced. [18633]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
Marginal deduction rates are calculated by combining figures for marginal tax rates, national insurance rates, tax credit taper rates, and benefit withdrawal rates. The concept of a marginal deduction rate is less meaningful when applied to passported benefits since they are all or nothing" benefits that are not tapered with income.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk constituency (a) received state pension, (b) applied for pension credit and (c) received pension credit in each of the last three years; and what the average pension credit payment was in each year. [15890]
Mr. Timms:
The June Pension Credit figures, which are available in the Library, show that 5,280 households (6,440 individuals) in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk were in receipt of pension credit, with an average award of £35.80. Earlier figures for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk and other newly created constituencies are not available. Information on the number of people who have applied for or are eligible for pension credit is not available in respect of individual constituencies.
24 Oct 2005 : Column 80W
1. Numbers of households and individuals are rounded to the nearest five. 2. Individuals comprise claimants and partners and may contain a small number of partners aged under 60. 3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS directory.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls made to the Pension Service have (a) met an engaged tone, (b) been received and (c) been handled by an adviser in the last 24 months, broken down by call centre. [18621]
Mr. Timms: The administration of The Pension Service is a matter for the Chief Executive, Ms Alexis Cleveland. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. David Laws, dated 24 October 2005:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning how many calls made to The Pension Service have (a) met an engaged tone (b) been received and (c) been handled by an adviser in the last 24 months broken down by call centre. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of The Pension Service.
For the period August 2003 to August 2005, in excess of 27 million calls were received by Regional Pension Centres/Pension Credit Application Line and over 25 million were answered by agents, equating to 91.2 per cent. of total calls received.
Of the 27 million calls received only 337,306 (1.2 per cent.) were blocked (attempted calls receiving an engaged tone or message during this period).
The table below shows the number of calls received, answered and blocked for the period August 2003 to August 2005 for all Regional Pension Centres and the Pension Credit Application Line:
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) children and (b) pensioners were living in poverty in (i) Walsall borough and (ii) Walsall North constituency in (A) 1997 and (B) 2005. [19889]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 October 2005]: The information requested is not available below regional level. The latest information for the West Midlands is shown in the following table.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what is his latest estimate of the total value of unfunded liabilities of public sector pension schemes; and if he will make a statement. [20682]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave on 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 306W to the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond).
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to put public sector pension schemes on a funded basis; and if he will make a statement. [20683]
Mr. Des Browne: I have been asked to reply.
There are no plans to fund unfunded public service pension schemes. The employer and employee contributions levied for unfunded schemes are set to cover the accruing long term liability to pay the pensions of scheme members; these contributions are not paid into a fund.
Tom Brake: To ask the Leader of the House how many hon. Members claimed the cycle allowance in the last period for which figures are available; and how much each of the 10 highest claimers claimed. [20635]
Mr. Hoon: Eleven Members claimed a total of £888.62 in bicycle allowances in financial year 200405. The amounts claimed by each of the top 10 highest claimers were as follows:
David Mundell: To ask the Leader of the House how much parliamentary time was spent scrutinising Scottish legislation between 1993 and 1999, broken down by legislative stage. [20656]
Mr. Hoon: Information is only readily available for Bills certified by the Speaker as relating exclusively to Scotland, or ordered to be proceeded with as if they had been so certified. The figures are on a sessional (rather than calendar year) basis, and exclude time spent in Standing or Grand Committees. For Sessions 199293 to 19992000, the time taken on the floor of the House for such Bills is as follows:
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