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24 July 2006 : Column 896W—continued
Pensioners
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up rate of benefits by pensioners was in each year since 1997. [85549]
James Purnell: Take-up of retirement pension cannot be calculated accurately. However, 98 per cent. of pensioner benefit units were in receipt of some state pension in 2004-05. Those not receiving may include pensioners deferring their state pension or misreporting their income when asked.
Estimates of take-up of pension credit and minimum income guarantee administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), as well as local authority administered housing benefit and council tax benefit, can be found in the DWP publication series entitled: “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up”. Latest estimates of pension credit relate to the year 2004-05; the most recent take-up results for all the other benefits relate to 2003-04. Copies of the latest publications, which describe patterns in take-up since 1997-98, together with past reports, are available in the Library.
Information on the take-up of other benefits is not available.
Pensions Act
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) sets of regulations and (b) codes of practice under the Pensions Act 2004 due to take effect from 6th April 2006 have not yet been published in final form. [48096]
James Purnell: The information is as follows:
(a) 16 sets of regulations implementing the Pensions Act 2004 and due to take effect from April 2006 have been made and laid on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Regulations that came into force on 28 March 2006:
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Cross-Border) Regulations 2006 (amendment).
Regulations that came into force on 1 April 2006:
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Pension Protection Levy and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2006
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Fraud Compensation Levy) Regulations 2006
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Levies) (Amendment) Regulations 2006
The Pension Protection Fund (Valuation of the Pension Protection Fund) Regulations 2006.
Regulations that came into force on 6 April 2006:
The Pension Protection Fund (Administration of Compensation) Regulations 2006
The Pension Protection Fund (Compensation) (Amendment) Regulations 2006
The Pension Protection Fund (Entry Rules) (Amendments) Regulations 2006
The Pension Protection Fund (Assumption of Responsibility, Discharge of Liabilities and Equal Treatment) Regulations 2006
The Pension Protection Fund (Reviewable Matters) and (Review and Reconsideration of Reviewable Matters) (Amendment) Regulations 2006
The Pension Protection Fund (Provision of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2006
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Member Nominated Trustees and Directors) Regulations 2006
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Modification of Subsisting Rights) Regulations 2006
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Trustees' Knowledge and Understanding) Regulations 2006
The Occupational and Personal Pensions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2006
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Payments to Employer) Regulations 2006.
The draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations, which were published for consultation in September 2005, have not yet been laid.
In the light of comments received during consultation on the draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Exemption) Regulations 2006, we have decided not to proceed with those regulations.
Regulations on the subject of contracting out have been taken forward in a HM Revenue and Customs Order.
(b) The following codes of practice, issued by the Pensions Regulator in respect of the Pensions Act 2004, are in force from 30 May 2006:
Late Payments (Money Purchase)
Late Payments (Personal Pension)
Trustees Knowledge and Understanding
Reasonable Periods in Disclosure
Early Leavers
Member Nominated Trustees/Member Nominated Directors was laid in its final form on 13 July 2006.
The following codes of practice are currently being developed:
Modification of Past Rights
Internal Controls.
Pensions White Paper
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the total number of pensioners who would receive savings credit
under the current system but will not under the proposals in the White Paper security in retirement, towards a new pensions system in (a) 2010, (b) 2020, (c) 2030, (d) 2040 and (e) 2050. [78004]
James Purnell: Under our reforms, more people will be receiving state pensions based on their national insurance records, and there will be a more generous basic state pension due to the restoration of the earnings link. This provides a solid foundation for private saving. Incentives are further enhanced by reducing the growth of the savings credit.
The following table shows the difference between the number of pensioner households projected to be receiving savings credit in each year requested under the current system projected forward and under the proposals contained in the White Paper “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system”. These figures do not take into account the effects of introducing personal accounts, which should lead to lower proportions of older people being eligible for pension credit.
| Table 1: Projected numbers of pensioner households in selected years that may receive savings credit under the current system projected forward, and that may receive it under the white paper proposals | |||
| Number of pensioner households that may receive savings credit under the current system projected forward (million) | Number of pensioner households that may receive savings credit under the white paper proposals (million) | Difference | |
| Notes: 1. Projections of numbers receiving savings credit in the future are subject to a range of uncertainties and a number of factors including policies on uprating different benefits, and assumptions on rates of take-up. 2. The assumptions applied here are consistent with those that underpin published long-run expenditure projections, and are applied to projections of the number of pensioner households estimated to be eligible for the savings credit. 3. The projections of recipients of the savings credit under the current system and the reform proposals are calculated by applying assumed rates of take-up, care should be taken when interpreting these projections. In particular data deficiencies make it difficult to be confident in the split between the number of people who may be in receipt of only the guarantee credit and those who may be in receipt of both the guarantee credit and the savings credit. Also the projections are sensitive to the assumed take-up rates. 4. Estimates of the proportion of pensioner households eligible to the savings credit are the mid-points of projections taken from two separate micro-simulation models. Modelling of the reform proposals does not assume any increase in private saving from the introduction of personal accounts, which would further reduce the numbers eligible for the savings credit. 5. The projections of the number and proportion of pensioner households eligible for the savings credit are sensitive to modelling assumptions and to projected changes in the distribution of pensioner incomes. 6. The projections of the number of pensioner households eligible for the savings credit are derived from the projected proportions eligible and projections of the number of pensioner households in Great Britain. 7. The reform projections assume: continued earnings uprating of the standard guarantee credit; the savings credit maximum is uprated by earnings from 2008 and then by prices from 2015; earnings uprating of the basic state pension from 2012; measures to improve coverage of the basic state pension described in the White Paper. 8. The projections under the current system assume that basic state pension is uprated in line with prices and the standard guarantee credit with earnings each year. It should be noted that there is a government commitment to uprate the standard guarantee credit with earnings until 2008. Treasury projections for the current system assume price uprating of the standard guarantee credit beyond 2008. 9. Estimates are calibrated to the mid-points of the 2004-05 National Statistics range estimates of non-eligibility to pension credit, which adjust 2004-05 Family Resources Survey data to take account of possible biases in reporting. Although the estimates here are not presented as ranges, they are subject to a margin of uncertainty. 10. The projections are rounded to the nearest 50,000. Totals are rounded separately so components may not sum to totals. | |||
People Living in Poverty
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were estimated to be living in poverty in (a) rural and (b) non-rural areas in each year since 1997; and what each figure represents per 1,000 population. [85942]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The following table shows the number of all individuals living in households which are situated in either rural or urban areas of England and with household incomes below the 60 per cent. threshold of the contemporary median. The threshold of 60 per cent. of median household income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income. The figures are on a before and after housing costs basis for the years 1996-97 to 2004-05. The urban/rural marker information is not available on a consistent basis on the data for Scotland and Wales.
| Number of all individuals falling below 60 per cent. of the contemporary median income, by urban/rural: England, 1997-98 to 2004-05 | ||||||
| Before housing costs | After housing costs | Total number of all individuals (million) | ||||
| Urban | Rural | Urban | Rural | Urban | Rural | |
| (1 )Total (2) Total (3) Total (4 )Total (5) Total (6) Total (7) Total (8) Total Source: Households Below Average Income (HBAI). The main source for HBAI is the Family Resources Survey (FRS). | ||||||
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