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22 Mar 2007 : Column 1075W—continued
Pensioners: Social Security Benefits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) individuals over the state pension age and (b) households with at least one member over the state pension age who would be eligible for an income-related benefit in (i) 2012, (ii) 2015, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2030, (v) 2040 and (vi) 2050 if the earnings link were restored to the basic state pension in (A) 2012 and (B) 2015. [122387]
James Purnell: The information requested is not available. Projections of entitlement for pension credit under the proposed reforms to state pensions are given in the following tables.
The Government have given a commitment to re-link the uprating of the basic state pension to average earnings. Our objective, subject to affordability and the fiscal position, is to do this in 2012, but in any event by the end of the next Parliament at the latest. We will make a statement on the precise date at the beginning of the next Parliament.
The proposed reforms to the state pension system will encourage individual personal responsibility for retirement and provide a solid foundation on which people can save. These reforms will mean that those with a good history of working or caring and saving towards retirement will be taken clear of entitlement to the pension credit standard minimum guarantee, while continuing to provide a safety net for those who have been unable to build up a sufficient state or private pension.
| (a) Individuals over state pension age entitled to pension credit | ||||
| Projections of pension credit entitlement | ||||
| With earnings link restored from 2012 | With earnings link restored from 2015 | |||
| Individuals entitled (Million) | Percentage of total | Individuals entitled (Million) | Percentage of total | |
| (b) Households with at least one member over state pension age entitled to pension credit | ||||
| With earnings link restored from 2012 | With earnings link restored from 2015 | |||
| Households entitled (Million) | Percentage of total | Households entitled (Million) | Percentage of total | |
| Notes: 1. Projections incorporate the reforms to state pensions included in the Pensions Bill and are consistent with projections included in the Regulatory Impact Assessment to the Bill. 2. The projections do not include the impact of personal accounts. 3. Robust projections of combined entitlement to pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit are not available. 4. Care should be taken when interpreting these projections as they are subject to a margin of uncertainty. The projections are based on long run simulations of the incomes of individuals under a set of assumptions including life expectancy, partnership formation, earnings growth, employment rates, state and private pension accumulation. Source: DWP projections | ||||
Pensions
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what processes his Department carries out to stop payment of basic state pension on the death of a claimant; and if he will make a statement. [118800]
James Purnell: Upon receipt of a notification of the death of a customer, the information is recorded on the relevant computer system, and payments of state pension are stopped with immediate effect.
Notifications are typically provided by next of kin or close relatives, by telephone or post. Checks are made to establish the identity of the deceased customer, and
when notification is received by phone, verification of customer's identity is obtained through a series of security questions.
The Office for National Statistics provides us with a weekly summary of notifications of death made direct to the DWP from registrars.
From the autumn of 2007, notifications of death will be received on a daily basis from the Office for National Statistics, as opposed to the current weekly basis. This will assist in enabling a prompt cessation of payment following death.
Pensions Education Fund
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the expected total allocation is of funds on Pensions Education Fund contracts; [125531]
(2) how much each of the 26 contracted awards from the Pensions Education Fund has cost; [125478]
(3) with whom further Pensions Education Fund contracts have been agreed since the initial 26 were awarded. [125479]
James Purnell: The total expected allocation of funds to the 26 organisations that made successful applications to the Pensions Education Fund is £5,137,961.
The value of each of the 26 contracts awarded by the Pensions Education Fund is contained in the following table.
Rented Housing
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of (a) the number and (b) the proportion of households renting from (i) local authorities, (ii) registered social landlords, (iii) private landlords and (iv) owner occupiers which are (A) over state pension age and (B) of working age. [126504]
James Purnell: The information is in the tables.
The following estimates have been published from the Family Resources Survey: United Kingdom 2004-05.
| Percentage of households | ||
| Tenure | Households with one or more adults over pension age | Households with all adults of working age |
| Number of households (Thousand) | ||
| Tenure | Households with one or more adults over pension age | Households with all adults of working age |
| Notes: 1. Working age is defined as 16-59 for women and 16-64 for men. 2. ‘Council’ includes local authority, new town and NIHE rented accommodation. 3. ‘Housing Association’ includes co-operative and trust rented accommodation. 4. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government office region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error. 5. Figures for the number of households have been rounded to the nearest 10,000. | ||
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