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12 Mar 2007 : Column 168W—continued

Personal Accounts Consultation

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have responded to the personal accounts consultation process. [118766]

James Purnell: We received around 350 responses to the consultation on the May 2006 White Paper, “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system”. The range of measures set out in this document included proposals on personal accounts.

Further proposals for personal accounts were set out in the December White Paper “Personal accounts: a new way to save”. The formal consultation on this is due to end on 20 March. As of 2 February we have so far received a total of nine responses; six from business and three from individuals.

However, the consultation is still under way and we expect the majority of responses to come in close to the consultation deadline.

Personal Income

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the median income for a (a) man and (b) woman aged (i) 21 to 25, (ii) 25 to 30, (iii) 30 to 40, (iv) 40 to 50, (v) 50 to 60, (vi) 60 to 65, (vii) 65 to 75, (viii) 75 to 85 and (ix) over 85 was in each year since 1980. [117852]

Mr. Jim Murphy: Information on individual earnings and income for Great Britain is available in the “Individual Income 1996-97 to 2004-05” publication.

Consistent figures for male and female median incomes are not available prior to 1996-97. Details of median income from 1996-97 to 2004-05 for men and women are shown in the following tables:

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12 Mar 2007 : Column 170W

Median total individual income, by age-band from 1996-97 to 2004-05—Men (£ per week at 2004-05 prices)
	16-20	21-25	26-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61- 65	66-75	76-85	86 and over
1996-97	89	215	328	373	397	308	208	172	136	134
1997-98	98	227	328	381	400	324	222	168	140	137
1998-99	114	230	341	391	392	328	221	176	140	138
1999-2000	112	231	339	398	403	343	221	181	152	142
2000-01	130	250	362	419	411	340	234	192	155	147
2001-02	125	248	355	424	429	354	244	196	165	147
2002-03	125	246	359	422	431	360	241	201	172	162
2003-04	114	242	355	426	430	354	249	207	174	181
2004-05	98	253	360	428	439	374	252	211	183	172
Source: Family Resources Survey—Individual Incomes

Median total individual income, by age-band from 1996-97 to 2004-05—Women (£ per week at 2004-05 prices)
	16-20	21-25	26-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-65	66-75	76-85	86 and over
1996-97	87	153	182	163	178	120	89	91	95	108
1997-98	88	164	185	166	172	128	99	89	97	112
1998-99	95	165	209	181	183	127	102	94	101	118
1999-2000	100	179	212	195	188	139	104	98	104	123
2000-01	106	186	226	200	204	130	102	100	106	116
2001-02	106	192	236	214	214	146	111	104	111	130
2002-03	100	198	243	223	213	158	116	108	113	129
2003-04	99	197	265	230	230	166	118	112	118	141
2004-05	99	206	255	233	236	169	129	113	131	143
Source: Family Resources Survey—Individual Incomes

Poverty: Lancashire

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of children were living below the poverty line in Lancashire in each of the last 10 years. [125313]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The information requested is not available.

Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in “Households Below Average Income statistical report 1994/95-2004/05”. The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income. Data are not available below regional level so we are not able to provide figures for Lancashire.

Remploy

Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made with the review of Remploy. [126371]

Mrs. McGuire: To help develop a five-year restructuring plan the Remploy Board has established a joint working group with the consortium of trade unions, has held informal discussions with other key stakeholders, and is considering proposals for modernising the company to help greater numbers of disabled people into work.

Social Security Benefits: Pensions

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether personal pension accounts will be disregarded for capital assessments in income-related benefits; at what age income from personal pension accounts will be attributed in the assessment of income-related benefits; and what the method of assessment will be of proposed rate of income attribution. [119424]

James Purnell: The introduction of personal accounts will extend the benefits of private pension saving to those on moderate to low income who do not have access to a good employer pension scheme. Together with the reforms to the state pension system which will provide a solid foundation on which to build, this is designed to encourage and support individuals in saving for their retirement.

Personal accounts will be designed to complement rather than compete with existing successful pension provision. We therefore think it is right that funds from all savings or pensions vehicles are treated in the same way, and there are no plans to treat funds associated with personal accounts differently.

The rules, which will also apply to personal accounts, allow funds held under a personal pension scheme by a customer or partner to be disregarded in the calculation of a customer's capital in income-related benefits—income support, jobseeker’s allowance (income-based) housing benefit, council tax benefit and pension credit-until the holder reaches the age of 60.

If at any age the holder receives income from the personal pension scheme, that income will be taken fully into account in the assessment of entitlement to an income-related benefit.

However, if a customer aged 60 or over fails to claim the income to which he would be entitled or fails to purchase an annuity with the funds available, the customer will be treated as possessing the amount of income forgone from the date on which it could have been expected to be claimed.

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