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Correspondence

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords were dealt with by his Department in each year since 1995 in respect of the percentage his Department took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if he will make a statement. [37414]

Mr. Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment, including the Employment Service. This response includes information for the 2001–02 parliamentary session onwards.

The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005 (column 137–40ws). Reports for previous years are available in the Library of the House. Information on letters from members of the public to the Department's Ministers is available in the Department's departmental report, which is published annually and can be found in the Library of the House. Information about letters from hon. Members and members of the public to officials in the Department is not collected centrally and could only be collected at disproportionate cost to the Department.
 
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Information about Lords parliamentary questions is not available in this format and could only be collected at disproportionate cost to the Department. Information about Commons parliamentary questions is set out in the following table.
Per cent

Parliamentary session	Proportion of Commons parliamentary questions that were answered more than twenty working days after being tabled	Proportion of Commons parliamentary questions that were answered more than sixty working days after being tabled
2001–02	22	4
2002–03	13	1
2003–04	10	1
2004–05	6	0
2005–06	22	4

Note:
The 2005–06 figures are for the period up to 31 December 2005. Twenty working days is used as an equivalent to one month and sixty working days is used as an equivalent to three months.

Council Tax Benefit

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average amount of council tax benefit is in payment to those aged over 60. [60765]

Mr. Plaskitt: As at August 2005, the average weekly amount of council tax benefit in payment to those aged 60 and over in Great Britain was £13.61.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average award of council tax benefit was in each local authority area in the latest period for which figures are available. [60766]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information has been placed in the Library.

Debt Management

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many letters his Department sent to clients as part of its debt management activity in each quarter since Q2 2001. [52498]

Mr. Plaskitt: This information is not available.

Departmental Assets

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 596W, on departmental assets, what estimate he has made of the cost of providing the information requested. [49868]

Mr. Plaskitt: The determination of a disproportionate cost" response is made when the costs incurred in preparing the answer exceeds the stated £600 cost threshold. The costs that will be incurred to answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 596W on departmental assets were significantly above this threshold.

We were unable to provide the information requested as the details are not currently held centrally or in the format requested. To collate the required data would involve requesting information from approximately
 
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1,700 departmental sites and a clerical correlation of the information. We estimate the cost to be approximately £16,000.

Overpayments

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time was between an unrecovered overpayment being identified and a letter being sent to the debtor in each quarter since 2001. [52500]

Mr. Plaskitt: This information is not available.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department recovered from erroneous payments but has been unable to allocate to a specific debt case in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [52507]

Mr. Plaskitt: We are not able to provide the figures requested. If the Department is unable to allocate receipts, it cannot specifically identify them as relating to debt repayments. All reasonable, practical and cost effective steps are taken to allocate receipts. If this is not successful, the money is surrendered to HM Treasury as Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts.

Pension Policy

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has a model to predict the distributional outcomes of changes to pension policy; and if he will make a statement. [59840]

Mr. Timms: The Department uses a number of models to assess the distributional impact of changes to pension policy. These include models which calculate changes in pension outcomes for illustrative individuals, and more complex models which simulate the effects on a representative sample of pensioners. All such models provide an illustration of potential distributional effects under a particular set of assumptions, rather than a prediction of outcomes.

Post Office Card Account

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Tamworth constituency use the Post Office Card Account to receive benefits and pensions. [58079]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested.

Information showing the number of DWP benefit and pension payment accounts paid by direct payment into a Post Office card account for each parliamentary constituency has been placed in the Library.

Small Firms

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what definition the Department uses of a small firm. [59280]

Mr. Plaskitt: There is no single definition of a small firm with terms such as small firm" and SME" (Small and Medium sized Enterprise) being used interchangeably. However, two of the most common definitions are those provided by the European Union
 
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and the Companies Act 1985. The Department uses the European Union definition consisting of headcount, turnover or balance sheet total.

TRANSPORT

A47 Multi-modal Study

Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in implementing the conclusions of the A47 Norwich to Peterborough multi-modal study which reported in 2003. [59629]

Dr. Ladyman: Our response to the study in July 2003 asked the Highways Agency to monitor traffic flows and performance of the A47 and to implement small scale safety and management measures as part of its route management strategy. They were also asked to consider the case for smaller scale bypasses to the villages of Middleton and East Winch and to review the case later in the decade for upgrades between A1 and Sutton and between North Tuddenham and Easton. The Department recently received advice from the region on priorities for transport investment. We are currently considering this advice and expect to make announcements, including announcements relevant to the A47 corridor, later in the spring.

We also provided Norfolk county council with funding, through the local transport plan programme of £1.395 million in December 2003 for a package of measures including the refurbishment of King's Lynn bus station and improved integration with the railway station; creation of a high-quality multi-modal interchange facility at Thetford railway station; improved bus stop infrastructure in Downham Market and pedestrian and cycling signing in market towns.

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