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13 Mar 2007 : Column 274W—continued


State Retirement Pensions

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the UK were entitled to a state pension in (a) 1992, (b) 1997 and (c) 2006. [126391]

James Purnell: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.

State pension recipients in GB
Number

September 1992

9,479,400

September 1997

9,914,700

September 2005

10,568,700

March 2006

10,583,400

Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
2. Figures for September 2006 are not yet available so figures for March 2006 have been provided.
Sources:
1. DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. extract of the PSCS. Sample data is subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall case load from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
2. The figure for 1992 is taken from the Social Security Statistics 1993 publication and is from a 10 per cent. sample and has not been adjusted.


13 Mar 2007 : Column 275W

Unemployment: Foreign Workers

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of A2 and A8 migration on (a) unemployment and (b) measures to tackle unemployment in the UK. [122313]

Mr. Jim Murphy: In February 2006, DWP published a working paper on the impact of free movement of workers from Central and Eastern Europe on the UK labour market; copies have been placed in the Library. The paper found that there has been no discernible statistical effect of A8 migration on claimant unemployment.

A8 migrants can only usually access benefits once they have been working and registered with the Worker Registration Scheme for at least 12 months. A8 migrants not in receipt of benefit are unable to access Jobcentre Plus schemes. Similarly, A2 migrants cannot generally access the benefit system without having completed 12 months legal work.

We are continuing to monitor the impact of accession country migration on the UK labour market.

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if (a) he and (b) Jobcentre Plus will take steps to provide further benefit support and advice for A2 and A8 nationals who become unemployed. [122288]

Mr. Jim Murphy: Income related benefits are only paid to people who have a right to reside and are habitually resident in the UK. Most A8 and A2 nationals can only claim in work benefits while they are working as either a registered worker in the case of an A8 national, or an authorised worker in the case of an A2 national.

Once they have completed 12 months continuous employment as a registered or authorised worker A8 and A2 nationals who remain in the labour market have the same rights to access Jobcentre Plus services including benefit support and advice, as other EEA and UK nationals. We have no plans to extend this support.

Winter Fuel Payments

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the level of winter fuel payments in relation to the cost of energy; and if he will make a statement. [127355]

James Purnell: The winter fuel payment is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills which account for around 60 per cent. of the year’s total fuel bill. It has risen from £20 to £200 from winter 2000-01 and to £300 for people aged 80 or over from winter 2003-04. These increases have been at a significantly higher rate than inflation. Fuel prices do fluctuate and although fuel prices have risen since 2003, this follows a period of no change between 1997 to 2003. Companies are now starting to announce price reductions in their retail tariffs to domestic customers following recent falls in wholesale gas prices.


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Winter Fuel Payments: North East Region

Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in (a) Houghton and Washington East constituency and (b) Sunderland City Council area received winter fuel payments in each of the last five years. [125298]

James Purnell: The information is in the following table. Information on households receiving a winter fuel payment is available only by constituency and local authority from winter 2002-03. Figures for winter 2006-07 are not yet available but we expect the numbers to be similar to those for winter 2005-06.

Household payments made
Houghton and Washington, East constituency Sunderland local authority

2002-03

12,090

40,470

2003-04

12,230

40,660

2004-05

12,450

41,220

2005-06

12,570

41,580

Notes:
1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
3. Any residence found to have four or more occupants aged 60 and over is not included in the household figures as it is assumed to be a care home.
Source:
Information directorate 100 per cent. data.

Duchy of Lancaster

Deborah Mattinson

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much Deborah Mattinson was paid for her presentation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of the policy review seminar on 22 January 2007. [125954]

Mr. McFadden: A range of organisations and individuals have made submissions and presentations to the policy review process. Deborah Mattinson was not paid for her presentation.

Treasury

Child Care Tax Credits: Eltham

Clive Efford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Eltham have received child care credits since their introduction. [126682]

Dawn Primarolo: The average number of families in each constituency benefiting from the child care element of Working Tax Credit in 2004-05 are available in the HMRC statistical publication “Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Finalised Awards 2004-05. Geographical analyses”, which is available on the HMRC website at:

Estimates for 2005-06 will be published in May 2007.


13 Mar 2007 : Column 277W

No estimates are available for 2003-04, as the only data available are for a sample of cases. Any estimates would be unreliable at constituency level.

Childbirth

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many births there were in the UK in each year since 1995. [126143]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 March 2007:

Live births, United Kingdom, 1995 to 2005
Number of live births

1995

731,882

1996

733,163

1997

726,622

1998

716,888

1999

699,976

2000

679,029

2001

669,123

2002

668,777

2003

695,549

2004

715,996

2005

722,549


Deborah Mattinson

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his role was in selecting Deborah Mattinson to make a presentation as part of the policy review seminar on 22 January. [125993]

John Healey: A range of organisations and individuals have made submissions and presentations to the policy review process.

Departments: Official Engagements

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list his official engagements from 1 January to 28 February 2007. [125953]

John Healey: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Occupancy

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the (a) mean and (b) median number of (i) children and (ii) adults was in households where the household reference person was aged (A) 18 to 24, (B) 25 to 29, (C) 30 to 39, (D) 40 to 49,
13 Mar 2007 : Column 278W
(E) 50 to 59, (F) 60 to 69 and (G) 70 and over in (1) 1985, (2) 1995 and (3) 2005; [126071]

(2) what the (a) mean and (b) median number of (i) children and (ii) adults was in households where the household reference person was aged (A) 18 to 24, (B) 25 to 29, (C) 30 to 39, (D) 40 to 49, (E) 50 to 59, (F) 60 to 69 and (G) 70 and over and where the household reference person reported their nationality as being from one of the 12 countries which acceded to the EU since 2004. [126072]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 March 2007:

Mean household size by age group of household reference person (HRP) split by adults and dependent children( 1) , United Kingdom, 2005 and accession countries( 2)
All households HRP has accession( 2) nationality
Age group of HRP All Adults Children( 1) All Adults Children( 1)

18 to 24

2.4

2.0

0.5

2.9

2.8

0.1

25 to 29

2.4

1.8

0.6

3.1

2.8

0.4

30 to 39

2.9

1.8

1.1

3.3

2.5

0.8

40 to 49

3.0

2.0

1.0

50 to 59

2.4

2.1

0.3

60 to 69

1.9

1.8

0.0

70 and over

1.5

1.5

0.0

40 to 59

2.7

2.1

0.7

3.2

2.6

0.6

All ages 18 and over

2.4

1.8

0.5

3.0

2.6

0.4

‘—’ Sample number below 100
(1) A dependent child is aged under 16, or 16 to 18 and in full-time education.
(2) Accession countries since 2004 are Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia (1 May 2004) and Bulgaria and Romania (1 January 2007).
Note:
Numbers may not add due to rounding
Source:
All households LFS 2005 Household data set Spring and Autumn quarters. Accession countries, LFS Autumn 2004, Spring and Autumn 2005 and Spring 2006 Household data sets. All figures are population weighted.

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