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6 Dec 2005 : Column 1207W—continued
Older Workers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to encourage employers to employ older workers. [32757]
Margaret Hodge: We are encouraging employers to employ older workers through our Age Positive campaign and with leading business organisations through the Be Ready guidance campaign.
Age Positive is using publications, websites, exhibitions and awards initiatives to promote good practice standards. Employers large and small are supporting Age
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Positive as Champions, sharing their positive employment practices, and reporting the business benefits of employing older workers as part of an age-diverse workforce-higher retention rates, lower absenteeism, increased motivation, greater flexibility and a wider pool of skills.
We are working with leading business organisations in the Age Partnership Group to develop and promote the 'Be Ready' national guidance campaign. We launched the campaign in May this year, with a newsletter mailed to 1.4 million employers offering a range of guidance materials. Next spring we will be offering a further wave of guidance products. We will continue working alongside our business partners, such as ACAS, to help employers to prepare for age legislation, which is due in October 2006.
The Be Ready and Age Positive websites, featuring practical information and employer case studies, are attracting over 100,000 visits per month.
Pension Reform
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the latest report of the Pensions Commission; and if he will make a statement on the Government's plans for pension reform. [33632]
Mr. Timms: The Government welcome the broad framework of the Pensions Commission's proposals and options and believe they are the right basis for the debate to come.
As far as the specific recommendations are concerned, the Government are ruling nothing in and nothing out. Ministers have asked the Pensions Commission to continue their involvement in the public debate over the next few months. The Government will work towards the publication of a White Paper in the spring which will set out their response.
Pensioners
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Southend, (b) Essex, (c) Hertfordshire, (d) Greater London and (e) England and Wales (i) are of pensionable age and (ii) receive a state pension; and what the equivalent figures were in (A) 1992, (B) 1996, (C) 1997, (D) 1998, (E) 2001 and (F) 2004. [33655]
Margaret Hodge: Such information as is available is in the following tables.
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensioner population | 34,900 | 34,500 | 34,300 | 34,400 | 34,300 | n/a |
| People receiving a state pension | 33,500 | 33,300 | 33,600 | 33,400 | 33,300 | 33,200 |
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensioner population | 251,100 | 253,800 | 257,400 | 261,300 | 265,800 | n/a |
| People receiving a state pension | 244,000 | 246,200 | 249,300 | 253,500 | 257,900 | 261,600 |
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| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensioner population | 179,800 | 180,700 | 181,700 | 183,400 | 184,800 | n/a |
| People receiving a state pension | 176,500 | 175,800 | 177,100 | 178,800 | 180,600 | 182,200 |
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensioner population | 9,577,600 | 9,623,300 | 9,685,100 | 9,785,600 | 9,882,100 | n/a |
| People receiving a state pension | 9,227,900 | 9,271,700 | 9,320,100 | 9,403,600 | 9,505,100 | 9,593,400 |
n/a = not available.
Notes:
1. State pension age is 60 for a woman and 65 for a man. State pension does not have to be claimed at state pension age. A person can also stop claiming it once they have claimed it.
2. A woman may not be entitled to a state pension based on her own national insurance contributions when she reaches her state pension age. She may be able to get a state pension based on her husband's contribution record but will have to wait until he starts claiming it.
3. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant Office for National Statistics (ONS) postcode directory.
4. The figures for March 2000 and March 2001 are based on data from the 5 per cent. samples. These figures have been adjusted to make their totals consistent with the later WPLS data. These figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation.
5. The figures for May 2002 to May 2005 are directly from the WPLS 100 per cent. data.
6. The pensioner population figures are the ONS mid-year population estimates.
7. All figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
8. The data are taken from extracts of PSCS as at 31 March and 31 May for the appropriate years.
9. The total figures for Hertfordshire and Essex are composed of the sum of the relevant local authorities shown in notes 10 and 11. Due to overlap in geographical boundaries, these figures may not include all cases within these counties.
10. The local authorities for Essex are: Basildon; Braintree; Brentwood; Castle Point; Chelmsford; Colchester; Epping Forest; Harlow; Maldon; Rochford; Tendring; Uttlesford.
11. The local authorities for Hertfordshire are: Broxbourne; Dacorum; East Hertfordshire; Hertsmere; North Hertfordshire; St Albans; Stevenage; Three Rivers; Watford; Welwyn Hatfield.
12. The pensioner population is defined as the sum of all females aged 60 or over and all males aged 65 or over.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate—Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data and 5 per cent. samples. Office for National Statistics Mid-year population estimates.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of pensioners were eligible for (a) housing benefit, (b) council tax benefit and (c) pension credit on the latest date for which figures are available; and what the forecasted figures are for 2050 assuming that eligibility rules remain the same. [35203]
Mr. Timms:
The latest estimates of the number and proportion of pensioners entitled to the main income-related benefits relate to financial year 2002–03 (before the introduction of pension credit). Estimates for housing benefit, council tax benefit and minimum income guarantee—the predecessor to pension credit—
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can be found in the DWP report entitled Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2002–03". Copies of the publication are available in the Library.
Estimates of the number of people entitled to pension credit will be published on 19 December 2005 and will include the first six months of pension credit. Estimates for the full year 2004–05 are expected to be published in May 2006.
The numbers entitled to income-related benefits in the future will depend on a wide range of factors including the ways Governments choose to uprate benefits. The following table shows entitlement estimates if the current uprating approaches are continued in the future.
Notes:
1. Entitlement estimates are subject to a wide range of uncertainty; they are rounded to the nearest 100,000 and the proportions of individuals over pension age are rounded to the nearest 5 per cent.
2. Individuals entitled include a small number of partners below state pension age.
3. The pension credit projections assume the continuation of the current uprating of the standard minimum guarantee by earnings, although the Government is not committed to this beyond 2008.
4. Estimates of the number of households and individuals eligible for pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit in the future are available for Great Britain. These are based on a long term version of the Department's Policy Simulation Model, which uses Family Resources Survey data for 2003–04 projected forward into the future to estimate the extent of eligibility for each pensioner household on the survey.
6 Dec 2005 : Column 1211W
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Beverley and Holderness received overpayments of pension credits in 2003–04; what the total sum overpaid was; and how much of this has been written off. [33456]
Mr. Timms: One person was overpaid pension credit in the Beverley and Holderness constituency during the financial year 2003–04, amounting to £126.82. Information relating to the amount written off is not available at the constituency level.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has evaluated on the long-term sustainability of pension credit. [33458]
Mr. Timms: The long-term sustainability of pension credit depends on the decisions of successive Governments about the level at which it is set and the entitlement rules that apply. However, the Government have undertaken to increase the guarantee credit in line with average earnings until 2008.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the East Riding of Yorkshire were entitled to pension credit in the most recent month for which figures are available. [33559]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available.
The latest available estimates of the number of pensioners entitled to the main income-related benefits relate to financial year 2002–03 and predate the introduction of pension credit. They are available on a national basis only, as estimates cannot be reliably disaggregated into lower geographies. Estimates for minimum income guarantee—the predecessor to pension credit—can be found in the DWP report entitled Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2002/2003". Copies of the publication are available in the Library.
Estimates for pension credit will be published on 19 December 2005; this publication will include the first six months of pension credit. Estimates for the full year 2004–05 are expected to be published in May 2006.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Tamworth constituency were entitled to an income-related benefit in each year since 1997; and what proportion of pensioners claimed this benefit in each year since 1997. [29292]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available.
Estimates of the number of pensioners entitled to the main income-related benefits are available on a national basis only. These can be found in the DWP report series: Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up"; copies of which are held in the Library.
The following table contains the number of pensioners in receipt of pension credit introduced in October 2005.
6 Dec 2005 : Column 1212W
| Number of recipients | |
|---|---|
| October 2003 | 2,600 |
| October 2004 | 3,800 |
| June 2005 | 3,900 |
Notes:
1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest hundred therefore totals may not sum.
2. Pension credit (PC) replaced minimum income guarantee (MIG) on 6 October 2003. Existing MIG recipients were automatically converted onto pension credit on that date (assuming they still met the eligibility criteria)
3. Data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS) 100 per cent. scans taken on 17 October 2003, 15 October 2004 and 10 June 2005. All figures have been rated up to give month-end estimates.
4. These figures are early estimates. Operational processing times mean that a number of claim commencements and terminations are not reflected in the figures. The final figures incorporated within the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) will take account of such cases.
5. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
Source:
Information Directorate 100 per cent. data
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