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28 Mar 2006 : Column 943W—continued

Parliamentary Questions

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parliamentary questions tabled in the last 12 months for answer by him on a named day (a) were transferred and (b) received a substantive answer (i) on the day named and (ii) after the day named. [49884]

Mrs. McGuire: For the year 7 February 2005 to 6 February 2006 inclusive, the number of parliamentary questions tabled in the last 12 months for answer by him on a named day (a) which were transferred and (b) which received a substantive answer (i) on the day named and (ii) after the day named were:
Number
(a) Transferred27
(b)(i) Answered by named day311
(b)(ii) Answered after named day266

Post Office Card Account

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pilot schemes for the migration of Post Office card account holders to banking facilities will be operating in the eastern region over the next 12 months. [55028]

Mr. Plaskitt: We have no plans to operate any pilots in the eastern region.

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of each payable benefit was transacted through (a) a Post Office card account and (b) another account at a post office in (i) rural post offices, (ii) urban post offices, (iii) Communities First areas in Wales and (iv) Communities First areas in the South Wales valleys in the latest period for which figures are available. [55452]


 
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Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 2 March 2006]: The information is not available in the format requested.

Information showing the proportion of DWP benefit and pension payment accounts paid by direct payment into a Post Office card account and a bank/building society account for the local authorities in Wales has been placed in the Library.

Private Pensions

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) percentage of people living in London who have a private pension; and if he will make a statement. [60553]

Mr. Timms: In 2004–05 the number of people contributing to a private pension in London is estimated to be 1.7 million. This represents 38 per cent. of the working age population in London, compared with 43 per cent. of the UK working age population, contributing to a private pension.

In addition, 0.7 million people in London are estimated to be in receipt of a private pension. This represents 13 per cent. of the adult population in London.


 
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Replacement Pension Costs

Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the gross annual cost of restoring pensions in full to all those covered by the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report, 'Trusting in the Pensions Promise'; [61797]

(2) what his Department's estimate is of the annual net cost, after deducting payment of tax and reduced payments of means-tested benefits, for the next 40 years of replacing the lost pensions of surviving members of pension schemes which started winding-up between April 1997 and April 2005; [61794]

(3) what estimate he has made of the annual cost for the next 40 years of paying financial assistance scheme benefits to all members of final salary pension schemes which started winding-up without sufficient funds to cover all its pension liabilities between April 1997 and April 2005; [61796]

(4) what the evidential basis was for the figure of £15 billion as the cost to the public purse in the Government's response to the recommendation of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report, 'Trusting in the Pensions Promise'. [61795]

Mr. Timms: We estimate that the gross average annual cost of restoring pensions in full to all those covered by the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report would be £250 million in cash terms over some 60 years. Annual costs would vary over time peaking at £400 million around the year 2030.
 
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I will provide estimates shortly of the net annual costs, taking account of any estimated reduction as a consequence of taxation and reduced payments of means-tested benefits.

We estimate that extending the financial assistance scheme to cover all members of final salary pension schemes which started winding-up without sufficient funds to cover all its pension liabilities between April 1997 and April 2005, if the FAS benefit levels were retained, would cost on average £125 million per annum in cash terms over the first 40 years. It is likely that further costs would occur after that period.

The costs of the Ombudsman's proposals have been estimated using data collected for the financial assistance scheme (FAS). The data was obtained from schemes potentially eligible for FAS, the pensions regulator and the pensions industry. The data has been fed into an actuarial model to generate time profiles of costs. Mortality estimates were taken from the continuous mortality investigation.

Single Room Rent Restriction

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Single Room Rent restriction on housing benefit was in each locality in each of the Local Housing Allowance Pathfinder areas in each year between 1996–97 and 2004–05. [57957]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. The precise rate of Single Room Rent applicable in an individual case would be dependent on the location of the property within a locality; as determined by a Rent Officer. The figures in the table are a guideline only.

The Single Room Rent was replaced by the Shared Room Rate from the introduction of the Local Housing Allowance in November 2003. For information on the Shared Room Rate, I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 21 March 2006, Official Report, column 236W
Weekly single room rents in Pathfinder local authorities, each October 1996 to 2003

£
Local authority and Locality19961997199819992000200120022003
Blackpool Council
Fylde(43)(43)(43)(43)40454546
Brighton and Hove Council
Brighton and Hove(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)5558
Conwy County Borough Council
Llandudno(43)36363638404040
Colwyn Bay(43)35353536383838
Northern Rural(43)34343435353535
Menai(43)35353535353535
Coventry City Council
Coventry3535353640434545
Edinburgh City Council
Edinburgh Central4545474749505556
Edinburgh East4242424344455051
Edinburgh South West4543464646475152
Edinburgh North West4343464646465051
Leeds City Council
Leeds(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)4948
London Borough of Lewisham
LSE Central(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)78
LSE Inner(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)93
Northeast Lincolnshire Council
N E Lincs(43)(43)(43)(43)38383938
Teignbridge District Council
Teignbridge(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)4852
Exeter3743434543444855
Tiverton and Crediton(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)4348
Tiverton374343434242(43)(43)
Crediton374343433942(43)(43)
Torbay3843434544454853
South Devon(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)4850
Plymouth Environs(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)(43)4549


(43) Data not available or cannot be provided because of changes to localities.
Notes:
England
1. The data provided from October 1996 to October 1998, inclusive, has been compiled from old records inherited by The Rent Service on its establishment on 1 October 1999; The Rent Service cannot verify the veracity of the data.
2. Following the establishment of The Rent Service, all localities have been fundamentally reviewed and as a result, some localities were changed to better match the operation of the private rented sector market.
Wales
3. The data provided from October 1996 to October 2003, inclusive, has been compiled from old records inherited by Rent Officer Branch—Welsh Assembly Government on its assimilation into the National Assembly for Wales in June 2003.
4. Since June 2003 all localities have been fundamentally reviewed and as a result, some were changed to better match the operation of the private rented sector market.
Source:
Rent Registration Service, Scotland; Rent Officer Service, Wales; The Rent Service, England.





 
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