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New Registrations (Slough)

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the number of residents in Slough issued with new national insurance numbers in each of the last five years for which data are available; [38509]

(2) how many people from new EU member states countries have registered in Slough for new national insurance numbers in each of the last five years. [38513]

Mr. Plaskitt: Information as to how many residents of Slough were issued with new national insurance numbers is not available. Information regarding the number of applications for national insurance numbers administered in Slough is in the table.
Applications for national insurance numbers administered in Slough

	Number
September 2002 to March 2003	2,651
April 2003 to March 2004	5,127
April 2004 to March 2005	5,388
April 2005 to November 2005	5,203

The available information regarding the number of national insurance numbers issued in Slough to people from the new EU Accession states is in the table.
National insurance numbers issued in Slough to people from EU Accession states

	Number
October 2004 to March 2005	362
April 2005 to November 2005	1,986

Notes:
1.The new EU Accession states entered the EU from May 2004.
2.Figures on the number of national insurance numbers issued to people from EU Accession states are only available from October 2004.




 
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Obesity

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the total expenditure on disability pensions was accounted for by people suffering from obesity in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how much was spent on disability pensions for people suffering from obesity in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [28255]

Mrs. McGuire: Information is only available on those claiming incapacity benefits whose primary diagnosis is obesity. The available information is in the tables.
Incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA) and income support with a disability premium (ISDP); working-age expenditure on people suffering from obesity £ million real terms

	Obesity—IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure	Total—IB/SDA and ISDP expenditure	Obesity as a percentage of IB/SDA/IS DP expenditure
2000–01	8	13,184	0.06
2001–02	8	13,289	0.06
2002–03	8	12,789	0.06
2003–04	8	12,421	0.07
2004–05	8	12,554	0.07

Incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA) and income support with a disability premium (ISDP); working-age expenditure on people suffering from obesity £ million nominal terms

	Obesity—IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure	Total—IB/SDA and ISDP expenditure	Obesity as a percentage of IB/SDA/IS DP expenditure
2000–01	7	11,566	0.06
2001–02	7	11,955	0.06
2002–03	8	11,899	0.06
2003–04	8	11,883	0.07
2004–05	8	12,247	0.07

Notes:
1.Figures are consistent with the historical out-turn expenditure figures published in the DWP's benefit expenditure which can be found on the Department for Work and Pensions website at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp
2.Expenditure has been apportioned using data on conditions of IB and SDA recipients from the IB 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
3.Expenditure refers to the total expenditure from IB, SDA and ISDP for those in receipt of IB or SDA.
4.Diagnoses are coded in accordance with the International Classification of Disease 10th edition, published by the World Health Organisation.
5.Figures are rounded to the nearest million pounds.
6.Figures are of working-age claimants only.
7.Real term figures are in 2005–06 prices.
8.Figures for 2004–05 are estimated out-turn.
Source:
DWP Cross Cutting Strategy and Analysis Directorate, DWP information Directorate.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to answer the question tabled by the hon. Member for Daventry on 9 November, reference 28183. [36799]

 
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Mrs. McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 14 December 2005, Official Report, column 1990W.

Pathways to Work

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent mental health workers are employed by each Pathways to Work pilot area, broken down by type of mental health worker; and what the ratio of mental health workers to participants is in each area. [38248]

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is not available.

In 2005–06, we expect around 3,000 customers in Pathways to Work pilot areas to receive support from the condition management programme.

Pension Credit

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government are taking to ensure that it meets its target of 3 million people claiming pension credit by Easter 2006. [35311]

Mr. Timms: The Pension Service is contacting again those individuals who are likely to be entitled to either small amounts of the guarantee element of pension credit, or the savings element only, to encourage them to apply. New marketing campaigns have been developed and data-matching techniques are being used to increase the accuracy with which letters are targeted. Further contact is also being made with those households we believe to be eligible for pension credit, but who have not so far responded.

Between April 2005 and March 2006, The Pension Service plans to have visited around 800,000 households to provide a full benefit check to ensure everyone is assisted in claiming their full entitlement to all benefits. The Pension Service's local service will also continue to work closely with its local partners such as Help the Aged and Age Concern to help ensure pensioners take up their entitlements.

National statistics showing the number of pensioners entitled to pension credit in the first six months after its introduction and the subsequent take-up rate are expected to be released early in 2006.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the number of UK pensioners (a) entitled to pension credit and (b) receiving pension credit in each region; and if he will make a statement. [38147]

Mr. Timms: Latest estimates of the number of pensioners in Great Britain entitled to pension credit are due to be published in early 2006 in Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2003/2004". Copies of the report will be available from the Library.

The number of pension credit recipients as at September 2005 is in the following tables.
 
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Number of households receiving pension credit by pension credit type and GOR as at September 2005

	Total claimants	Guarantee credit (GC) only	Savings credit (SC) only	GC & SC
All GB	2,711,000	775,900	611,400	1,323,800
North East	158,200	36,800	40,000	81,300
North West	358,400	99,900	76,100	182,500
Yorkshire and The Humber	261,400	66,700	65,000	129,700
East Midlands	195,500	49,900	49,100	96,400
West Midlands	279,500	76,100	62,300	141,200
East of England	223,100	54,600	55,400	113,100
London	289,100	146,400	43,400	99,300
South East	280,200	76,100	69,200	134,900
South West	223,600	54,800	53,500	115,400
Wales	160,400	41,200	33,900	85,300
Scotland	281,600	73,400	63,500	144,700

Number of individuals receiving pension credit by GOR as at September 2005

	Total individual beneficiaries	Couple with female claimant	Single females	Couple with male claimant	Single males
All GB	3,299,100	125,500	1,589,000	462,500	533,900
North East	194,200	7,900	91,100	28,200	31,000
North West	433,500	16,600	209,400	58,500	74,000
Yorkshire and The Humber	321,100	12,800	152,400	46,900	49,300
East Midlands	241,100	10,000	114,300	35,700	35,500
West Midlands	345,500	13,400	159,100	52,600	54,400
East of England	274,000	10,700	132,700	40,200	39,600
London	344,100	8,800	165,900	46,200	68,100
South East	336,200	12,200	172,500	43,800	51,800
South West	273,500	10,800	132,400	39,100	41,400
Wales	197,900	8,300	92,500	29,300	30,300
	337,900	14,100	166,900	42,200	58,400

Notes:
1.The preferred data source for figures supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions is the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study, for which the latest published data is May 2005. The figures provided are those published in the Pension Credit Quarterly Progress Report, which provides an early estimate of caseload, these figures are our latest estimates.
2.Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 100 and expressed in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
3.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).
4.Data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS) 100 percent scan taken on 16 September 2005. The figures have been rated up to give month-end estimates.
5.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.
6.Couples may contain a number of partners who are less than the age of 60.
Source:
Information Directorate, 100 per cent. data.

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