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27 Feb 2006 : Column 252W—continued
Mystery Shopper Exercises
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on mystery shopper exercises in each of the last three financial years. [52681]
Mr. Timms: The Pension Service and Jobcentre Plus are the only agencies of the Department that utilise a Mystery Shopping programme.
The available information is in the following tables.
| Reporting year | Paid (£) |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | (70)15,280 |
| 2003–04 | (70)17,625 |
| 2004–05 | 383,001 |
(70) Pilot exercises only. From April 2004 the Pension Service started a full programme of mystery shopping across the UK.
| Reporting year | Paid (£) |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 693,709 |
| 2003–04 | 677,768 |
| 2004–05 | 693,173 |
Both agencies are improving contract specifications to ensure expenditure efficiencies and the best service is provided to its customers.
National Pensions Savings Scheme
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has held with the Financial Services Authority on the proposed National Pensions Savings Scheme. [49986]
Mr. Timms:
DWP officials have regular contact with the FSA. The Government are considering the recommendations within the Pensions Commission's report which include the National Pensions Savings Scheme. The Government are committed to consulting with the public and key stakeholders on the key issues, as part of the national pensions debate. The Government plan to bring forward its own proposals for reform in a White Paper in the spring. At this stage nothing has been ruled in and nothing has been ruled out. In developing these proposals the Government will take associated regulatory considerations into account.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 253W
Non-resident Parents
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will review the regulations which state that non-resident parents receiving jobseeker's allowance pay a portion for their children through the Child Support Agency. [52091]
Mr. Plaskitt: We believe that all parents are responsible for maintaining their children and this includes non-resident parents receiving jobseeker's allowance.
The new scheme introduced the flat rate of £5 a week maintenance payments for any number of children. It applies to most non-resident parents who get a wide range of benefits, including jobseeker's allowance, or who have a net income of £100 a week or less.
Pension Payments (Processing)
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average cost is of processing a pension payment by (a) cheque, (b) post office card and (c) a bank account. [47666]
Mr. Plaskitt: Currently, the average cost to DWP of issuing a pension payment by (a) cheque is about £1.70 (b) Post Office card account is about £1.00, and (c) a normal or basic bank account is about £0.01.
Pension Service
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Pension Service has provided information including name and address to commercial or other organisations regarding people reaching pensionable age since 2001. [50057]
Mr. Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions holds its customers information in the strictest confidence. Personal information, which includes dates of birth, is not provided to commercial or other organisations without the customer's prior consent, in accordance with social security and data protection legislation.
We will only pass information to third parties if specific legislation permits us to do so, or if the benefit of disclosure outweighs the duty of confidence we owe to the customer concerned, such as disclosure of information to the police to prevent or detect crime.
Pensioners
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of old age pensioners have reported (a) that they experience difficulty in claiming their pensions and (b) that they do not fully understand what benefits are available. [52529]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have had their income raised above the poverty level since 1997 in (a) Stoke-on-Trent South constituency and (b) the UK. [51715]
27 Feb 2006 : Column 254W
Mr. Timms: The seventh annual Opportunity for all" report (Cm 6673) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of indicators.
(a) Information on the number of people over state pension age in low income is not available below regional level. The table gives estimates for the West Midlands.
Notes:
1. Figures are provided using a three-year rolled average, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes. Hence, figures are not consistent with previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. In circumstances such as a change in trend, rolled averages will show less variation than single-year estimates.
2. Table shows number of people over state pension age in millions rounded to the nearest 10 thousand.
3. In this answer relative low income is defined as individuals living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. f the contemporary GB median. Absolute low income gives the numbers living in households below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 median income held constant in real terms.
(b) Between 1996–97 and 2003–04 the number of people over state pension age in Great Britain who were in relative low income fell by 700,000, and the number in absolute low income fell by 1.9 million measured after housing costs. The table gives the number and percentage of people over state pension age living in households in relative and absolute low income.
Notes:
1. Figures are for Great Britain—the Family Resources Survey did not cover Northern Ireland until 2002–03;
2. In this answer relative low income is defined as individuals living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of the contemporary median. Absolute low income gives the numbers living in households below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 median income held constant in real terms.
3. The fall in the number of pensioners in relative low income after housing costs between 1996–97 and 2003–04 is 700,000—this does not match with the numbers in the table (2.8 million and 2.0 million) because of rounding.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 255W
Pensions
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints his Department has received about the chip and pin pension card since its introduction. [3595]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the form requested. Over 11 million pensioners are paid by direct payment. It is not possible to say how many complaints were specifically about the post office card account.
Post Office Card Account
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department have made of the cost of the Post Office card account scheme in each year until 2010; and what the costs have been in each year since the scheme's establishment. [47950]
Mr. Plaskitt: The annual cost of the Post Office card account for the first three years from April 2003 averaged £173 million.
The estimated cost of the Post Office card account from April 2006 to March 2010 is between £190 million and £200 million per year based on the current volume of customers.
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people hold a Post Office card account in the Easington constituency. [46584]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested.
Information available as at 24 December 2005, shows that 14,300 DWP benefit and pension payment accounts were being paid by direct payment into Post Office card accounts in the parliamentary constituency of Easington. This figure does not include post office accounts used by other Government Departments to pay benefits and tax credits.
The figures refers to benefit and pension payment accounts live and in payment on the specified date. People in receipt of more than one benefit/pension have been counted for each separate benefit/pension in payment. People who have their benefit/pension combined and paid at the same time have only been counted through the paying benefit.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many post office card account holders there were (a) at the end of March (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [48671]
Mr. Plaskitt: There were 834,773 post office card accounts in use at March 2004, 4,183,659 at March 2005 and 4,270,412 at December 2005.
In addition to accounts used by my Department, these figures include post office card accounts used by the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency, the Veterans Agency (Ministry of Defence) and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value of benefits paid out via the Post Office Card Account was in 2005–06; and what the estimate is for 2006–07. [48677]
27 Feb 2006 : Column 256W
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested.
The value of DWP benefits and pensions paid through the Post Office card account from 1 April to 31 December 2005 is £16,912,270,398.
To date no estimates have been made for the value of payments for 2006–07 that will be paid through the Post Office card account.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the Government was of setting up the Post Office card account system; and what the annual expenditure on maintaining it has been. [48728]
Mr. Plaskitt: Contributions towards the setting up of the Post Office card account is one of the elements included in the contract costs but detailed information on these costs is a commercial matter for the Post Office and its suppliers.
The annual cost of the Post Office card account for the first three years from April 2003 averaged £173 million.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Beverley and Holderness use the Post Office card account to collect pensions and benefits. [50159]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested.
Information available at 24 December 2005 shows that 7,200 DWP benefit and pension payment accounts were being paid by direct payment into Post Office card accounts in the parliamentary constituency of Beverley and Holderness. This figure does not include Post Office card accounts used by other Government Departments to pay benefits and tax credits.
The figure refers to benefit and pension payment accounts live and in payment on the specified date. People in receipt of more than one benefit/pension have been counted for each separate benefit/pension in payment. People who have their benefit/pension combined and paid at the same time have only been counted through the paying benefit.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Manchester, Withington, use a Post Office card account to receive (a) state retirement pension, (b) pension credit and (c) other benefits. [50374]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested.
The following table shows the number of DWP benefit and pension payment accounts that were being paid by direct payment into a Post Office card account at 24 December 2005.These figures do not include Post Office card accounts used by other Government Departments to pay benefits and tax credits.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 257W
| Number | |
|---|---|
| State retirement pension | 2,000 |
| Pension credit | 1,600 |
| Other benefits | 3,000 |
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Figures refer to benefit and pension payment accounts live and in payment on the specified date. People in receipt of more than one benefit/pension have been counted for each separate benefit/pension in payment. People who have their benefit/pension combined and paid at the same time have only been counted through the paying benefit.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by his Department in relation to the development and introduction of the Post Office card account. [52717]
Mr. Plaskitt: Detailed information on the costs associated with the development and introduction of Post Office card account is a commercial matter for the Post Office and its suppliers.
The annual cost to the department of the Post Office card account for each of the first three years from April 2003 averaged £173 million.
Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the criteria his Department will use to select recipients of pension and benefits to be contacted during the three pilot schemes that his Department are operating during February to test the approaches for moving recipients of pensions and benefits away from Post Office card accounts; and if he will place in the Library copies of the letters or leaflets his Department sends to those selected. [49265]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 6 February 2006]: Those participating in the pilots will be randomly selected from a small number of existing customers who currently have their benefit or pension paid into a Post Office card account and those making a new claim for a benefit or pension.
Copies of relevant letters will be placed in the Library.
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