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24 Jan 2007 : Column 1873W—continued
National Insurance Numbers
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) new national insurance numbers were registered and (b) new workers there were in the UK in 2005-06; and if he will make a statement. [101113]
Mr. Plaskitt: There were 1,486,312 National Insurance numbers issued in 2005. There have been 1,369,652 National Insurance numbers issued up to 31 October 2006.
The number of National Insurance numbers issued includes the following:
1. children who reach 16 years of age (the juvenile registration process);
2. UK adults who missed out on the juvenile registration process and;
3. foreign nationals who enter the UK and require a NINO for benefit, tax credit or employment purposes (adult NINO allocation process). Possession of a NINO does not in itself give any automatic right to benefit, tax credits or employment. Any claims to benefit or tax credits would be subject to normal entitlement rules.
The latest data available from the Labour Force Survey estimates that the number of people in employment has increased from 28.79 million to 28.99 million, an increase of around 192,000 over the last year.
Note:
Data compares July-September 2006 and July-September 2005.
Source:
Labour Market Statistics First Release, November 2006.
New Deal
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many, and what proportion of, individuals participating in the New Deal for Young People are participating in the programme for the (a) first, (b) second and (c) third time. [112903]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The information is in the following table.
Pension Credit
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each local authority ward in Peterborough constituency receive pension credit; and what the total cost was of these payments in the latest period for which figures are available. [114853]
James Purnell: The answer is set out in the following table.
| Household recipients of pension credit and the cost of pension credit expenditure for wards in Peterborough parliamentary constituency May 2006 | ||
| Ward name | Number of household recipients May 2006 | Annual pension credit expenditure 2005-06 (£ million) |
| Notes: 1. Expenditure figures are consistent with the pre-Budget report 2006 and are rounded to the nearest 100,000. 2. The number of households in receipt are rounded to a multiple of five. 3. As a result of 1. and 2. ward totals may not sum to area totals. 4. Caseloads and average weekly amounts for May 2006 have been used to calculate the annual expenditure figures for each ward in Peterborough parliamentary constituency. 5. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 6. Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data | ||
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in St. Albans constituency are claiming pension credit. [116362]
James Purnell: As at August 2006 2,460 households in the St. Albans constituency 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 ten.
3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory and are therefore based on the 2005 parliamentary boundaries.
4. Households 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 (GMS). Pension credit scan taken as at 1 September 2006.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications for pension credit in the London borough of Bexley were (a) granted and (b) refused in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [117286]
James Purnell: The information is not available.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) the London borough of Bexley and (b) Bexleyheath and Crayford are in receipt of pension credit. [117287]
James Purnell: As at August 2006 the number of households in receipt of pension credit for (a)Bexley local authority was 7,350 and (b) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency was 2,810.
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 ten.
3. Parliamentary constituencies and local authority areas are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory. Constituencies are therefore based on the 2005 parliamentary boundaries.
4. Households 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 (GMS). Pension credit scan taken as at 1 September 2006.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claim pension credit in Chorley constituency. [117189]
James Purnell: As at August 2006, 4,160 households in the Chorley constituency 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 relevant postcode directory and are therefore based on the 2005 parliamentary boundaries.
4. Households 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 (GMS) pension credit scan taken as at 1 September 2006.
Pensioner Poverty
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to protect pensioners from cost of living increases in excess of earnings growth. [115518]
James Purnell: The law relating to social security benefits currently requires the Secretary of State to review pension levels each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices. If they have not, the Secretary of State is required to increase them.
We gave a guarantee that the basic state pension would increase by 2.5 per cent. or the retail prices index, whichever is higher, during the life of this Parliament.
Between 1997-98 and 2006-07 pensioners have benefited from above-inflation increases in the basic state pension, with pensioners better off by 9 per cent. in real terms than if the basic state pension had been increased only by prices over the same period. Under reform the basic state pension will be uprated in line with average earnings. Our objective, subject to affordability and the fiscal position, is to do this in 2012 but in any event at the latest by the end of the next Parliament. We have said that we will make a statement on the precise date at the beginning of the next Parliament.
Different groups and individuals will face different inflation rates because of their different spending patterns. There is, however, little evidence to suggest the rates of inflation pensioners face are substantially different from, or higher than, the rates of the population as a whole over the long term. If anything, published ONS statistics show that over the last 18 years all pensioners have—on average—faced slightly lower inflation than working age people.
Fuel prices have risen since 2003, but this follows a period of no change between 1997 and 2003. Across this period pensioners have seen improvements in their incomes; between 1996-97 and 2004-05 pensioners' net incomes increased by 25 per cent. in real terms, compared with a 15 per cent. real terms increase in utility bills between 1996-97 and 2006. It is important to note that whilst pensioner incomes tend to increase on a linear basis, utility prices tend to fluctuate.
At the time the earnings link is restored, the proportion the basic state pension represents in terms of earnings will remain constant and it will continue to hold its value over time, relative to earnings.
Pensioners Overseas
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of (a) a public sector pension and (b) a state pension live abroad, broken down by country of habitation. [114358]
James Purnell:
Information about people in receipt of public service pensions who live abroad is not
available. The information about state pension paid to people living outside of Great Britain is in the following table.
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