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18 Apr 2006 : Column 120W—continued
Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of members of the Principal Civil Service pension scheme in his Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old. [62009]
Jim Fitzpatrick: As at 24 March 2006 there were 3123 active members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and related agencies. The ages at which they joined the scheme are shown in the following table.
| Age | Number |
|---|---|
| (a) before 20 | 500 |
| (b) 20 and before 25 | 921 |
| (c) 25 and before 30 | 520 |
| (d) 30 and before 35 | 286 |
| (e) 35 and before 40 | 302 |
| (f) 40 and before 45 | 232 |
| (g) 45 and after | 362 |
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the current employer contribution rates to the Principal Civil Service pension scheme are; what assumed rate of return underlies those contribution rates; and what the contribution rate would be if the assumed rate of return was in line with current redemption yield on index-linked gilts. [62010]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Jim Murphy), on 29 March 2006, Official Report, columns 1030–31W.
Prudential Borrowing Rules
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to change the prudential borrowing rules to allow arm's length management organisations to borrow for housing purposes. [61667]
Yvette Cooper:
We have no plans to change the prudential borrowing rules to allow arms length management organisations to borrow for housing purposes
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Regional Government
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total central government grant to English regional chambers will be for 2006–07. [62262]
Yvette Cooper: A total of £18,835,000 will be allocated to the eight regional assemblies and their umbrella body the English Regions Network.
Additional funding will be made available to cover costs associated with the transfer to the regional assemblies of the responsibilities, previously held by the Regional Housing Boards.
Right to Acquire
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many units of social housing have been purchased under the Right to Acquire in England in each year of its operation. [62315]
Yvette Cooper: The total number of housing association homes purchased under the Right to Acquire in England in each year of its operation are tabled as follows.
| Sales year to 31 March | Number |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 26 |
| 2002 | 151 |
| 2003 | 228 |
| 2004 | 389 |
| 2005 | 505 |
Note:
The figures are derived from the Housing Corporation's Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR).
Source:
RSR Section K Part 1 Q4 (2005), Section K Part 2 Q6 (2004), Section K Part 2 Q6 (2003),
Section K Part 2 Q6 (2002), Section C Part 1 Q4 (2001)
Stamp Duty
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate his Department has made of the average stamp duty paid by first-time buyers. [51107]
Yvette Cooper: There is no complete house price data available that identifies first-time buyers. Estimates from the Regulated Mortgage Survey, show that almost half the first-time buyers paid no stamp duty as the value of their property was below the stamp duty threshold. This estimate does not allow for buyers in Enterprise Areas where the threshold is higher. Averaging the stamp duty paid across all first time buyers who are not sitting tenants and who bought with a mortgage produces a figure of £1,500 for quarter 3 2005. In the Budget the Chancellor raised the threshold to £125,000.
Superannuation Liability
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what total amount of employers' normal contributions accruing superannuation liability charge has been accounted for by his Department in each of the last five years for which data is available. [61369]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) was created following the Machinery of Government changes on 29 May 2002. The amount
18 Apr 2006 : Column 122W
of employers' accruing superannuation liability charges in respect of the principal civil service pension scheme for ODPM, including the Government Offices and the Department's Executive agencies, are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 20,024,437 |
| 2003–04 | 23,969,512 |
| 2004–05 | 25,337,297 |
WORK AND PENSIONS
Administration Costs
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which functions of his core Department are carried out in (a) England and (b) London; and what administrative costs were associated with these functions for each area in the last year. [39816]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration budgets regime overseen by Treasury does not monitor country or regional administration costs separately.
The Departmental Report (CMD 6539) contains information on the Corporate and Shared Services function in 2004–05. The most recent Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (CMD 6639) contains the provisional 2004–05 departmental administration costs outturn.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what functions in his Department are carried out in Scotland; and what the administrative costs of these functions were in the last year for which figures are available. [40010]
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which functions of his core Department are carried out in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Wales; and what administrative costs were associated with these functions for each area in the last year. [39942]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration budgets regime overseen by the Treasury relates to Whitehall Departments only. How running costs are controlled in the devolved Administrations is a matter for them. Treasury do not monitor administration costs by country separately.
The most recent Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (CMD 6639) contains the provisional 2004–05 departmental administration costs outturn and the Departmental Report (CMD 6539) contains information on the Corporate and Shared Services function in 2004–05.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administrative costs were of each non-departmental public body for which he has responsibility in the last year for which figures are available; what the total of such costs was in that year; and whether the costs are regarded for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable. [40063]
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Mr. Plaskitt: The administration budgets regime overseen by Treasury does not include non-departmental public bodies. The only exception to this for the Department for Work and Pensions is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The administrative costs for HSE in 2004–05 were £192.412 million net of income. These costs were identifiable.
The most recent Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (CMD 6639) contains the provisional 2004–05 departmental administration costs outturn.
Benefits
Mr. Laws:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the total
18 Apr 2006 : Column 124W
processing time for each of his Department's administered benefits in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005 and (e) the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [35691]
Mrs. McGuire: In response to the question, processing targets and actual achievements against those targets for the Department of Work and Pensions administered benefits are listed in the following tables for Pension Service, Jobcentre Plus and Disability and Carers Service.
From 2005–06 performance data includes non-complex claims processed at the National Pension Centre alongside the claims processed at ordinary pension centres.
(16) Year to date figure at December 2005.
(17) Retirement pension became state pension in 2003–04.
(18) Does not include National Pension Centre figures.
(19) Includes National Pension Centre figures.
(20) Complex claims are claims to state pension from customers who have been widowed or divorced and the spouse's national insurance contributions are taken into consideration.
Jobcentre Plus The following tables contain annual actual average clearance (AACT) times for the three benefits administered by Jobcentre Plus going back to 2002.
(21) The JSA figures are April to March with the exception of 2005 which are December YTD.
Disability and Carers Service The table shows targets and actual achievement.
Notes:
1.The figures are April to March with the exception of 2005 which is YTD December 2005.
2.The special rules cover people who suffer from a progressive disease that is so severe that they are not expected to live longer than six months.
3.Up to 2001–02 targets were performance indicators.
4.From 2002–03 the target changed to the AACT (actual average clearance time) format.
18 Apr 2006 : Column 125W
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, columns 860–61W, to the hon. Member for Daventry, on benefits payments provision, how much his Department spent on the end-to-end delivery of the new debt management IT system introduced in August 2005. [52537]
Mr. Plaskitt: The costs of the introduction of the new Debt Manager system stand at £22,207 million as at 31 January 2006. This cost includes all supplier costs, the costs of Project staff and Debt Management costs relating exclusively to the implementation of the new system.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households containing children living in relative poverty received no council tax benefit in the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [59341]
Margaret Hodge: The estimated number of households, with children, that received no council tax benefit, and whose household income was less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median—a measure of relative" low income—is in the following table:
Notes:
1.Figures rounded to the nearest 100 thousand.
2.Incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median is a measure of 'relative' low income.
3.Estimates of income, and whether households were not in receipt of council tax benefit, relate to the household's status at the time they were interviewed for the FRS. The income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household). The median relates to the middle-ranked individual.
4.The estimates are based on sample survey counts, which have been adjusted for non-response and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to both sampling error, and to the remaining variability in non-response which is not corrected by the adjustment method.
Source:
Households Below Average Income series (HBAI), derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The HBAI series provides information on net disposable income. Figures are for 2004–05, the latest period for which data is available.
18 Apr 2006 : Column 126W
People fail to take up their benefit rights, including council tax benefit, for a number of reasons. For example, the increasing number of home owners compared to tenants has had an impact on the number of people claiming council tax benefit. This is because home owners are likely to have less contact with the benefit system while tenants normally make a claim to council tax benefit at the same time as they make their claim for housing benefit.
However, we are working hard to increase the take up of council tax benefit by making receipt of a council tax benefit as automatic as possible for everyone eligible. Departmental policy officials, working together with representatives from local authorities, Jobcentre Plus, The Pension Service and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs aim to develop recommendations shortly.
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on housing benefit for tenants in (a) council property, (b) housing association property and (c) the private sector in the last year for which figures are available. [61561]
Mr. Plaskitt: Spending on housing benefit for all three tenant groups in 2004–05 is in the table.
| Estimated expenditure in 2004–05 (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| Local Authority Tenants | 5,208 |
| Registered Social Landlord Tenants | 4,586 |
| Private Rented Sector Tenants | 3,365 |
Notes:
1.The figures presented are in £ million and reflect nominal costs for the whole of Great Britain.
2.They are total amounts paid to beneficiaries, irrespective of the source of funding, and include benefit spending reimbursed by DWP, spending on rent rebates financed within local authorities' housing revenue accounts, and benefit spending financed from local authorities' general funds.
3.They reflect the latest benefit-by-benefit estimate of out-turn, and not the amounts voted by Parliament.
4.This information is taken from the latest published housing benefit forecasts, available at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/Table8.xls
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Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much in housing benefit was paid to tenants of (a) housing associations and (b) arms' length management organisations in each year since 1997; and what estimate he has made of the effect on costs in each year of tenants transferring from council management to registered social landlords as part of large scale voluntary transfers. [61666]
Mr. Plaskitt: The amount of housing benefit paid to registered social landlord tenants each year since 1997 is in the table.
Information is not available on the housing benefit paid to tenants of arms length management organisations.
For information about the effect on costs in each year of tenants transferring from council management to registered social landlords as part of large scale voluntary transfers, I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave on 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 591W.
| £million | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 2,208 |
| 1998–99 | 2,425 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,697 |
| 2000–01 | 3,019 |
| 2001–02 | 3,407 |
| 2002–03 | 4,155 |
| 2003–04 | 4,246 |
| 2004–05 | 4,586 |
Notes:
1.The figures presented reflect nominal costs for the whole of Great Britain.
2.They are total amounts paid to beneficiaries, irrespective of the source of funding, and include benefit spending reimbursed by DWP, spending on rent rebates financed within local authorities' housing revenue accounts, and benefit spending financed from local authorities' general funds.
3.They reflect the latest benefit-by-benefit estimate of out-turn, and not the amounts voted by Parliament.
4.Figures for 1999–2000 onwards are on a resource accounting and budgeting basis. There may be differences between figures quoted in these tables and those quoted in Department for Work and Pensions accounts.
5.Some figures for past years may have changed since previous publications owing to the incorporation of more up-to-date information. Also please note that from April 2003 responsibility for child benefit, guardians allowance and child's special allowance has been transferred to Inland Revenue.
6.Figures exclude asylum seekers from April 1999, since when the National Asylum Support Service has reimbursed DWP for benefits paid to asylum seekers.
7.This information is taken from the latest published housing benefit forecasts, available at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/Table8.xls
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Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on housing benefit for tenants in (a) council property, (b) housing association property, (c) registered social landlord property and (d) private sector housing in Coventry in each of the last three years. [62685]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available broken down in the format requested. The latest available information for rent rebates, council tenancies, and rent allowance, all other tenancies, is in the tables.
| Rent Rebates | Rent Allowance | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 15.0 | 43.6 |
| 2001–02 | 0.1 | 60.5 |
| 2002–03 | 0.1 | 68.1 |
Note:
Coventry city council undertook a large-scale voluntary transfer of housing stock to the Whitefriars Housing Group on 23 September 2000.
Source:
DWP expenditure tables derived from local authority claims for housing revenue account subsidy.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the requisite National Vocational Qualification level is for Jobcentre Plus advisers working with clients in receipt of incapacity benefits; whether the minimum qualification level must be in a relevant subject; and whether qualification requirements will be reviewed as part of the welfare reforms proposed in the paper A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work. [59799]
Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question asking what is the requisite National Vocational Qualification level for Jobcentre Plus advisers working with clients in receipt of incapacity benefits, whether the minimum qualification level must be in a relevant subject and whether qualification requirements will be reviewed as part of the welfare reforms proposed in the paper A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus expects all Advisers to commit themselves to achieving an Advice & Guidance National Vocational Qualification.
During 2004/05 Jobcentre Plus invested in 1,654 full National Vocational Qualifications of which 868 were Advice & Guidance Level 3 or 4 for Advisers. When deciding which National Vocational Qualifications to support, courses which benefit those Advisers who deal with Incapacity Benefit claimants are our top priority.
The accreditation strategy across DWP is currently being reviewed to ensure that it supports the requirements of the welfare reform agenda.
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