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6 Nov 2006 : Column 933W—continued
Ministerial Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions he has visited (a) Scotland and (b) Wales in the last 12 months. [95010]
Mrs. McGuire: The previous Secretary of State visited Scotland on 18 October 2005. The current Secretary of State has visited Scotland twice, on 17 November 2005 and 9 March 2006. The Secretary of State is due to visit Wales later this year.
All ministerial visits are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.
Pensioners
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the value at 2006 prices of the 25 pence age addition for those aged 80 years old and over introduced in 1971. [98879]
James Purnell: If the 25p was uprated by the retail prices index since 1971, its value would be £2.50 in 2006 prices.
Note:
1. The value has been estimated using the retail prices index produced by the Office for National Statistics.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners aged 80 years old or over are in receipt of an occupational pension. [98880]
James Purnell: In 2004-05, there were 1.2 million people aged 80 or over in the UK in receipt of an occupational pension (includes pensions from a previous employer and pensions from the employer of a deceased spouse or relative).
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners over 80 years old there were in the United Kingdom in each year since 2001. [98881]
James Purnell: The information in the following table shows the total number of state pension recipients aged 80 and over in Great Britain.
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Data for March 2001 and 2002 are taken from the 5 per cent. extract of the pension service computer system and the figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall case load from the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study with extra built in protection to protect identity. 2. The figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. The figures are lower in 2003 due to the changeover in our data from 5 per cent. sample data to 100 per cent. data. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data and 5 per cent. sample data. | |
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what level of state pension, including the 25 pence age allowance, was paid to over 80-year-olds in (a) 1996 and (b) 2006. [98884]
James Purnell: The average weekly amounts paid to state pension recipients aged 80 and over who are also in receipt of the 25 pence age addition are in the following table:
| Years | £ per week |
| Notes: 1. Data are taken from 5 per cent. extract of the Pension Service Computer System and the figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study with extra built in protection to protect identity. 2. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest penny. 3. Figures for 2006 are not yet available. Source: DWP information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data and 5 per cent. sample data. | |
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much on average pensioners received to help with heating bills in (a) 1986, (b) 1996 and (c) 2006. [93830]
James Purnell: The exact information requested cannot be calculated from the available administrative data relating to the structure of the help available. Information that is available is as follows.
The Social Fund Cold Weather Payments scheme was introduced in October 1988. It replaced a similar but not identical scheme which had begun in December 1986. No data are held for help given to pensioners in 1986 under this system.
In 1996 help for pensioners was given through the Social Fund Cold Weather Payments scheme. Cold Weather Payments are made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or forecast to be, 0(0)C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the eligible customer's postcode. A Cold Weather Payment of £8.50 is made for each week the temperature is triggered. These
payments are not limited to pensioners. In total £61.6m was paid out to all recipients in 1995-96.
In 2005-06 the amount paid in Winter Fuel Payments to people aged 60 or over was £2 billion and a further £5.6 million in Cold Weather Payments was paid to eligible pensioner households. The amount of Winter Fuel Payment a person receives depends on their age and whether there are other eligible people in the household. People aged 60-79 receive up to £200 and people aged 80 or over receive up to £300.
Source for Cold Weather Payments: 1995-96 data—Annual report by the Secretary of State for Social Security on the Social Fund 1995-96, 2005-06 data—DWP Programme Accounting Computer System.
Source for Winter Fuel Payments: DWP Information Directorate.
Security Passes
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in his Department by year since February 2004. [88566]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information for the Department and its agencies, with the exception of The Rent Service, is not available in the format requested. No central records are kept of passes that have been lost or stolen. However, security passes that have inbuilt access control for specific sites are always deactivated when reported lost or stolen.
The Rent Service report that 37 security passes were reported as lost and eight security passes were reported as stolen since February 2004.
Telephone Interviews
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken was between seeking an appointment for a telephone interview and that interview taking place in the last year for which information is available, broken down by type of benefit. [98895]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 2 November 2006]: The information requested is not available.
Unemployment Payments
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on unemployment payments in each of the last 30 years at today’s prices. [93585]
Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
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