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24 July 2006 : Column 869W—continued
Age Positive Campaign
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent per head of population in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales on the Age Positive campaign in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06; and how much has been spent in 2006-07. [78876]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The Age Positive campaign operates nationally, covering England, Scotland and Wales. Costs for Scotland and Wales are not available separately. The approximate spend on the campaign was £646,000 for 2004-05, £913,000 for 2005-06 and up to the end of May 2006 £94,000 for 2006-07.
The campaign is aimed at employers, not individuals, and aims to raise awareness amongst employers of the business benefits of employing older workers in a mixed age workforce. It is not appropriate therefore to express the amount spent on the campaign per head of population.
The funding has enabled attendance at regional, sector and national events and exhibitions, has sponsored a number of age diversity awards, provided support materials; and overall had helpful the campaign to generate media coverage estimated to be worth £11.8 million since January 2004.
Benefit Applications
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to improve the training received by health care professionals involved in the application process for benefit assessments in respect of (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) other long-term fluctuating conditions. [86236]
Mrs. McGuire: All Medical Services doctors who carry out benefit assessments receive training in disability assessment medicine, which is constantly evaluated and improved. The training includes the need to take account of long-term fluctuating conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, and how these conditions affect a person over a period of time.
They are supported in their work by evidence-based protocols that provide up to date guidance on disabling conditions and their effects.
Doctors are also required to undertake continuing professional education on topics relevant to disability assessment.
Benefits
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural areas entitled to but not claiming state pension in each year since 1997; and what proportion this figure represents of all those entitled to state pension. [85924]
James Purnell: The information requested is not available. However, the proportion of pensioner units in receipt of some state pension income in Great Britain is shown in the table. The 2 per cent. without state pension income may include those not entitled as well as those deferring their state pension or misreporting their income when asked.
| Percentage | |
| Notes: 1. Results are for all pensioner benefit units, where a pensioner couple is defined as a couple where the man is at or above state pension age. 2. State pension income includes income from other contributory benefits for the elderly including widows’ benefits and incapacity benefit. 3. Results are based on survey respondents’ identification of different elements of benefit income, and are therefore subject to misreporting. Source: Table 3.3, Pensioners Income Series 2004/05 which is based upon data from the Family Resources Survey. | |
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate (a) the total amount of (i) incapacity benefit, (ii) income support, (iii) jobseeker’s allowance, (iv) pension credit, (v) council tax benefit and (vi) housing benefit erroneously paid to prisoners in each year since 1997 and (b) the number of prisoners involved in each case. [77993]
Mr. Plaskitt: Information is not available for incapacity benefit, council tax benefit, and housing benefit. The available information on the amount of income support, jobseeker’s allowance, and pension credit overpaid due to fraud or customer error is in the table.
There are no estimates available for how many prisoners would have been involved.
| Estimates of benefit overpaid to prisoners through fraud or customer error | |||
| £ million | |||
| Incorrectness | Income support | Jobseeker’s allowance | Pension credit |
| Notes: 1. All overpayments estimates rounded to the nearest £1 million. 2. Estimates are based on sampling exercises. Benefit paid incorrectly to prisoners form a small proportion of total overpayments. Estimates for them are based on reviews of small numbers of cases and so are subject to large sampling errors and other uncertainties. Sampling uncertainty is expressed in the form of confidence intervals - these have not been provided in these tables. 3. Estimates for overpayments to prisoners were not reported separately for earlier years. | |||
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people entitled to but not claiming (a) housing benefit, (b) council tax benefit, (c) winter fuel payments, (d) disability living allowance, (e) incapacity benefit, (f) income support, (g) jobseeker’s allowance and (h) child support in each year since 1997-98, broken down by (i) rural areas and (ii) non-rural areas; what estimate he has made of the amount of unclaimed benefit in each case; and if he will make a statement. [84616]
Mr. Plaskitt: Estimates for the main income-related benefits—income support/minimum income guarantee, pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and income-based jobseeker’s allowance—for eligible private household population in Great Britain, are available in the DWP report entitled “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take- Up”. Copies of the latest publication, which describes patterns in take-up since 1997-98, together with past reports, are available in the Library.
Most people who qualify for a winter fuel payment do not need to make a claim because they are paid automatically from DWP records. Some people aged 60 or over who are not in receipt of a benefit administered by DWP do need to claim. Many men aged 60-64, for example, fall into this category and need to claim. However, we do not have any estimate for how many eligible people have not claimed.
Currently it is not possible to estimate take-up rates for disability living allowance and attendance allowance. Following a recommendation in “Meeting DWP’s long-term information needs on disability: a feasibility report”, (DWP Research report number 267), the Department is commissioning research to test two possible approaches to establish whether it is possible to estimate take-up rates for these benefits. Results will be available in 2007.
No estimates are available for incapacity benefit.
Child support is not a benefit.
Carers Allowance
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of carer’s allowance in (a) Barnsley East and Mexborough, (b) Barnsley and (c) Doncaster. [86381]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of carer’s allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of carer’s allowance in (a) Barnsley, East and Mexborough (b) Barnsley and (c) Doncaster.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The information requested is in the following table:
| Carer’s allowance recipients as at November 2005 | |
| Number | |
| Definitions and Conventions: "-" nil or negligible; "." not applicable; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and expressed in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Notes: 1. Only cases in payment are shown (those with underlying entitlement but not actually receiving payment have been excluded). 2. Government office region, local authorities and parliamentary constituencies have been allocated using the ONS postcode directory. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | |
I hope you find the information helpful.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people are in receipt of carer’s allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) Great Britain; and how many there were in each year since its inception; [85867]
(2) how many people over the age of 60 have been registered as carers in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [85868]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of carer’s allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Terry Moran, dated 24 July 2006:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people are in receipt of a Carer’s Allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency (b) South Tyneside (c) the North East and (d) the UK; and how many there were in each year since its inception; and (2) how many people over the age of 60 have been registered as carers in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
You have kindly confirmed that your second question referred specifically to how many people over the age of 60 are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance in your constituency and in the UK.
Prior to 2001, reliable figures for the number of people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance are not available because data available then did not distinguish between those in payment and those with underlying payment.
The information available is provided in the attached Appendix.
I hope you find the information helpful.
Appendix:
| Number of Carer’s Allowance recipients as at November( 1) of each year from 2001 to 2005 | ||||
| Jarrow Parliamentary Constituency | South Tyneside LA | North East GOR | Great Britain | |
| Number of Carer’s Allowance recipients aged 60 and over, as at November( 1) of each year from 2001 to 2005 | ||||
| Jarrow Parliamentary Constituency | South Tyneside LA | North East GOR | Great Britain | |
| Definitions and Conventions: “—” Nil or Negligible; “.” Not applicable; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding. (1) Only cases in payment are shown (those with underlying entitlement but not actually receiving payment have been excluded). Notes: 1. Figures are only available for GB because the Department for Social Security Northern Ireland (NI) is responsible for NI statistics. 2. 2001 and 2002 figures are as at December. 2003, 2004 and 2005 figures are as at November. 3. Government Office Region, Local Authorities and Parliamentary constituencies have been allocated using the ONS postcode directory. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study for 2003-2005 and 100% samples for 2001-2002. | ||||
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