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15 Jan 2007 : Column 895W—continued
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the annual cost in nominal terms of statutory maternity pay in the UK was in each year since 2001-02; and what estimate he has made of the likely costs in each year from 2006-07 to 2009-10. [107561]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the following table.
| Statutory maternity pay, Great Britain | |
| £ million (nominal terms) | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are consistent with pre-Budget report 2006, which shows total managed expenditure to 2007-08, and are for Great Britain. 2. Figures are out-turn to 2005-06 are estimated out-turn for 2006-07 and are plans for 2007-08. 3. Benefit expenditure in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Office. Source: DWP benefit expenditure tables. The DWP expenditure tables can be viewed on the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp | |
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women in the UK received statutory maternity pay in each year since 2001-02; and what estimate he has made of the likely number in each year from 2006-07 to 2009-10. [107562]
Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
| Awards of statutory maternity pay per annum | |
| Number | |
| Notes 1. Statutory maternity pay is paid and administered by employers. The figures from 2004-05 onwards are forecasts. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000. Source: Figures up to 2003-04 are based on a 1 per cent. sample of national insurance records. | |
Benefit case load and expenditure forecasts are currently not made available publicly past 2007-08. Expenditure plans and case load forecasts for 2008-09 and 2009-10 will be released as part of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.
Occupational Pensions
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many occupational pension schemes have collapsed in the last two years. [110119]
James Purnell: The information requested on the number of occupational pension schemes which have collapsed in the past two years is not available.
Oil and Gas Industry
Mr. Doran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) lost time accidents and (b) fatal accidents there were in the oil and gas industry in the UK continental shelf in each of the last 10 years. [109358]
Mrs. McGuire: The information requested is set out in the following table and is taken from Health and Safety Executive’s published health and safety statistics.
| Fatalities | Lost-time injuries | |
| (1) 2005-06 figures are provisional. | ||
Pension Credit
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up rate is of pension credit in Wimbledon. [114903]
James Purnell: The information is not available in the format requested. Estimates of eligibility, and therefore of take-up, are not available below the level of Great Britain.
The latest estimates of the number of pensioners in Great Britain entitled to pension credit were published in “Pension Credit Estimates of Take-Up in 2004/2005”. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
Actual figures for receipt of pension credit at constituency level are available. As at August 2006 2,280 households in Wimbledon were receiving pension credit.
Notes:
1. The figure provided is an early estimate. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figure provided is the latest available figure which is taken from the GMS scan at 1 September 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure.
2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10.
3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the 2005 postcode directory.
4. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household.
Source:
DWP 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (CMS) Pension Credit scan taken as at 1 September 2006.
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many compensatory payments were made in respect of pension credits in each of the last five years to Wimbledon residents; and what the cost was. [114904]
James Purnell: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) new thresholds will be for the savings credit element of pension credit for April and (b) maximum levels of income will be above which pensioners would not gain from pension savings credit for (i) single people and (ii) couples; and if he will make a statement. [115348]
James Purnell: On 7 December 2006 I announced the proposed benefit rates for 2007. The full list of provisional benefit rates were set out in the Secretary of State's written statement on 11 December 2006. The 2007 rates will remain provisional until the Social Security Up-rating Order 2007 has been cleared by Parliament.
The provisional savings credit threshold figures from April 2007 are £87.30 for single people and £139.60 for couples. The provisional rates will allow for single people to have up to around £167 and couples to have up to around £245 and still qualify for pension credit savings credit. If someone is severely disabled or a carer or has certain housing costs they may have higher levels of income and still qualify for pension credit.
Pensions
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in (a) Eastbourne constituency and (b) the UK receive the retirement pension age addition to those aged 80 years or over. [110389]
James Purnell: As at March 2006, there were 2,545,600 pensioners in Great Britain in receipt of the age addition, and of those 8,500 were in the Eastbourne parliamentary constituency.
Note:
The figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Source:
DWP, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample, rated to caseload in Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will disaggregate the cost of basic state pension reforms, as shown in figure 9 of the pensions White Paper, “Security in Retirement: Towards a New Pension System”, to show the (a) (i) gross and (ii) net costs of saving from increasing the basic state pension in line with earnings from 2012 on existing qualifying criteria, (b) changes to qualifying criteria and (c) changes to adult dependency increases proposed in the White Paper. [112907]
James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 December 2006, Official Report, columns 1997-98W.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the combined value of basic state pension and state second pension payments at the point of retirement for an average earner with a full contribution record reaching state pension age in each year from 2010 (a) under current policies and (b) if the reforms in the pensions White Paper “Security in Retirement: Towards a New Pension System”, are implemented. [112911]
James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, columns 1998-2000W.
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of pensioner benefit units, including those with sufficient income not to qualify for pension credit, will face in 2050 an average rate of pension credit withdrawal on any income from sources other than the basic state pension that is (a) 40 per cent., (b) 41 to 50 per cent., (c) 51 to 60 per cent., (d) 61 to 70 per cent., (e) 71 to 80 per cent., (f) 81 to 90 per cent., (g) 91 to 99 per
cent. and (h) 100 per cent., if the reforms proposed in the pensions White Paper, “Security in Retirement: Towards a New Pensions System”, are implemented; [112916]
(2) if he will estimate the proportion of pensioner benefit units, including those with sufficient income not to qualify for pension credit, that would face in 2050 an average rate of pension credit withdrawal on any income from sources other than the basic state pension that is (a) 40 per cent., (b) 41 to 50 per cent., (c) 51 to 60 per cent., (d) 61 to 70 per cent., (e) 71 to 80 per cent., (f) 81 to 90 per cent., (g) 91 to 99 per cent. and (h) 100 per cent., if current uprating policies are continued indefinitely. [112915]
James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, columns 2001-02W.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will break down the cost of pension credit reforms listed in figure 9 of the pensions White Paper into (a) the cost of uprating the guarantee credit in line with earnings from 2008-09 and (b) the savings generated by proposed reforms to the savings credit. [112920]
James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 2002W.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether an estimate has been made of the cost of compensating those identified in the ombudsman’s report “Trusting in the Pensions Promise” taking into account the resulting reduction in (a) pension credit, (b) council tax benefit and (c) housing benefit payable to those compensated. [112901]
James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1997W.
Post Office Card Account
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the timetable is for the competitive tendering process for the new Post Office card account; and when he expects a decision to be made; [113461]
(2) how the new Post Office card account will differ from the existing scheme. [113462]
Mr. Plaskitt: The current Post Office card account contract ends in March 2010. The Government have decided that there will be a new service after 2010. This will have similar features to the Post Office card account. It will be available nationally and customers will be eligible for the account on the same basis as they are now for the Post Office card account. The detailed design for the product, including the name, will be decided as part of the tendering and contractual process. We will set out the timetable for the tendering process in due course.
Poverty
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets his Department has set for the number of (a) children, (b) pensioners and (c) working age adults without children in relative poverty based on the 60 per cent. of median earnings definition by (i) 2010 and (ii) 2020; and if he will make a statement. [101298]
James Purnell: Our first priority on taking office was dealing with the situation we inherited of pensioners already living in poverty. Since 1997 1 million pensioners have been lifted out of relative poverty thanks to measures like pension credit.
The White Paper “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system” announced our commitment to secure these gains into the future by uprating both the basic state pension and the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit in line with earnings over the long-term.
Pension credit ensures that no pensioner need live on less than £114.05 a week (£174.05 for couples). The Department has a public service agreement performance target to: by 2008, be paying pension credit to at least 3.2 million pensioner households, while maintaining a focus on the most disadvantaged by ensuring that at least 2.2 million of these households are in receipt of the guarantee credit.
In the report “A Sure Start to Later Life: Ending Inequalities for Older People”, published in January 2006, the Department committed to look at wider definitions and indicators of pensioner poverty in the wake of recently commissioned research, and to consider with the Treasury how and whether these should feed into PSA targets as part of the 2007 comprehensive spending review.
We have set a public service agreement target to halve the number of children in relative low-income households between 1998-99 and 2010-11 on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020. This latter is defined as:
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