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Information Technology

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Department; and what IT (a) expertise and (b) qualifications they possess. [71816]

James Purnell: The information in the table lists the Department's IT spend sourced outside the DWP over the five years 2001-02 to 2005-06.

Financial year	Spend (£ million)
2005-06	1,156
2004-05	1,070
2003-04	1,073
2002-03	941
2001-02	651

The Department’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for the delivery of projects that relate to IT and the Department’s modernisation programme—in co-ordination with the client groups, agencies and corporate functions—to ensure procurement of effective, reliable information systems and services that give value for money. The Chief Information Officer is also Head of Profession for programme and project management and for information systems.

The Department’s Chief Information Officer, client group and corporate Directors General and agency Chief Executives have extensive experience of delivering major projects in the public and private sectors.

Interest-only Mortgages

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will raise the £100,000 limit on interest-only mortgages for people on benefit who are disabled and have adaptations made to their homes. [77086]

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Mr. Plaskitt: Help with interest payments is limited to the interest on outstanding capital of £100,000. The only exception to this rule is where the loan is needed to make the home suitable for a disabled member of the household.

Language Line

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the annual cost of Language
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Line has been in each of the last five years, broken down by region. [48983]

Mrs. McGuire: The table provides details of departmental expenditure on Language Line for each agency in the last five years. The category entitled ‘other’ refers to usage by departmental cross-cutting services.

Language Line costs cannot be provided on a regional basis as they are not collated in this way.

DWP Language Line expenditure
£
	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	Total
Agency Appeals Service	—	449.50	547.80	429.65	3,612.90	5,039.85
Child Support Agency	14,191.49	20,435.00	22,691.50	42,343.45	37,348.35	137,009.79
Disability and Carers Service	6,221.71	5,602.65	6,466.06	7,529.50	13,077.30	38,897.22
Debt Management	—	17.00	—	276.30	299.50	592.80
Jobcentre Plus	380,784.68	895,807.90	974,289.46	913,270.10	1,301,822.61	4,465,974.75
The Pension Service	5,197.80	11,295.15	39,089.41	72,479.25	166,388.85	294,450.46
Other	2,066.38	6,795.40	23,381.22	103,768.40	49,014.86	185,026.26
Total	408,462.06	940,402.60	1,066,465.45	1,140,096.65	1,571,564.37	5,126,991.13

National Insurance Numbers

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many immigrants were claiming benefits within six months of being allocated a national insurance number for each reporting period from April 1997 to April 2006; and if he will make a statement. [75759]

Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is published in “National Insurance Number Allocations to Overseas Nationals Entering the UK”. A copy has been placed in the Library.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) asylum seekers, (b) failed asylum seekers and (c) illegal immigrants have been issued with national insurance numbers in each of the last eight years. [77124]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the total value of welfare benefit claims made by individuals issued with a national insurance number who were referred to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate owing to (a) suspicion about their eligibility to work in the UK, (b) the use of false documents and (c) other reasons in each of the last five years. [75859]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Pensions

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of pensioners received means-tested benefits in each year from 1979-80 to 2005-06; what his estimate is for each in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [70295]

James Purnell: The information requested is not available. The information that is available is in the following table.

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Estimated pensioner beneficiaries of income-related benefits as a percentage of the population of Great Britain 1990 to 2006
Mid year	Beneficiaries aged 60 and over of income-related benefits	Beneficiaries as a percentage of the population aged 60 and over
1990	5,200,000	45
1991	4,660,000	40
1992	4,500,000	39
1993	4,320,000	37
1994	4,150,000	36
1995	4,030,000	34
1996	3,910,000	33
1997	3,780,000	32
1998	3,640,000	31
1999	3,510,000	30
2000	3,410,000	29
2001	3,380,000	28
2002	3,290,000	27
2003	3,280,000	27
2004	3,740,000	30
2005	3,950,000	32
2006	4,100,000	32
Notes: 1. Income-related benefits are pension credit (PC), minimum income guarantee/income support for the over 60s (MIG/IS), jobseeker's allowance (income based) (JSA(IB)), housing benefit (HB), community charge benefit/council tax benefit (CCB/CTB), family credit (FC) and disability working allowance (DWA). 2. Overlaps between benefits have been removed. 3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten thousand, due to the estimation procedure to produce the figures for housing benefit and/or council tax benefit. 4. Beneficiaries is the sum of claimants aged 60 or over and claimants' partners aged 60 or over. 5. Percentage for population has been calculated using the revised Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-year population estimates for age group 60 and over, for 1990 to 2004, and Government Actuary's Department 2004-based mid-year population projections for 2005 to 2006. 6. Figures based on one per cent and five per cent samples are subject to sampling variation. These include all JSA figures, information concerning partners of PC and MIG/IS claimants, and all other figures prior to 2000 except DWA which is derived from 100 per cent. sample data. HB/CTB (all years) and IS (1990 to 1993) are derived from one per cent samples. All other figures were obtained from the WPLS. 7. CTB data excludes second adult rebate cases. 8. HB data excludes any extended payment cases. 9. Jobseeker's allowance replaced income support for the unemployed in October 1996. 10. Some JSA(IB) claimants may also have entitlement to benefit via the contributory route. 11. A consistent data series prior to 1990 cannot be provided due to a lack of HB/CTB data, and because overlapping cases cannot be identified. 12. Estimates for 1990 to 2004 are based on past benefit data. The estimate for 2005 is based on projections for HB and CTB, and past benefit data for other benefits. The estimate for 2006 is based on projections for all benefits. 13. The increase in beneficiaries from 2004 is due to the introduction of pension credit which is more generous than its predecessors. People aged 65 and over are rewarded for making provision for their retirement through the savings credit. In addition pension credit assumes £1 of income for every £500 of savings above £6,000. This is half the assumed rate of income in the MIG. Pension credit has also been the subject of considerable take-up activity by The Pension Service. Source: DWP one per cent. samples (IS.pre 1993,also HB and CCB/CTB), five per cent. samples, and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS), and DWP projections.

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the change in the proportion of pension contributions from (a) employers and (b) employees following the transfer of pension schemes from defined benefit to defined contribution schemes since 2002-03. [76756]

James Purnell: Information is not available in the format requested.

Weighted average employer and employee contribution rates in private sector occupational pension schemes in 2000, 2004 and 2005 are shown in the following table.

Private sector occupational pension schemes( 1)	2000	2004	2005
Employer contribution (percentage)
Defined Benefit schemes	9.9	14.5	16.0
Defined Contribution schemes	4.3	6	6.3
Employee contribution (percentage)
Defined Benefit schemes	4.2	4.3	4.4
Defined Contribution schemes	2.7	2.9	2.7
(1) Pension schemes with 12 or more members. Source: Government Actuary’s Department Occupational Pension Schemes Survey, 2000, 2004 and 2005

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