| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 Mar 2007 : Column 1078W—continued
Social Security Benefits: Carers
Martin Horwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of (a) the number of carers working more than 35 hours per
week in the UK and (b) the percentage of carers claiming (i) the carer’s allowance, (ii) income support, (iii) jobseeker’s allowance and (iv) the carer’s premium. [127559]
Mrs. McGuire: It is estimated that there are approximately 1.08 million informal carers in Great Britain who provide care for more than 35 hours per week.(1)
Approximately 8 per cent. of the estimated total of 5.7 million informal carers are receiving carer’s allowance, 4 per cent. are receiving the carer premium in income support, and 0.1 per cent. are receiving the carer premium in income-based jobseeker’s allowance.(2)
(1 ) Source:
Family Resources Survey 2004-05. It should be noted that the Family Resources Survey generates a lower estimate of the total number of carers than the Census, which is used to answer the second part of this Question. In consequence, the answers to the separate parts of the Question are not directly comparable.
(2) Source:
Census 2001 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, August 2006.
Figures shown are for Great Britain, not the UK, as the benefits discussed are payable in Great Britain. There are overlaps between those in receipt of carer’s allowance and the other premiums.
Social Security Benefits: Disabled
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claiming (a) incapacity benefit, (b) severe disablement allowance and (c) income support for incapacity are undertaking permitted work. [127817]
Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
| Number of incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants undertaking permitted work in Great Britain: as at August 2006 | |||||
| Benefit combination | |||||
| Permitted work type | All | IB and IS | IB only | SDA and IS | SDA only |
| Notes: 1. Figures have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample. | |||||
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether his Department collects data for tax benefit model tables on the marginal rate of deductions for disabled people; [127910]
(2) if he will place in the Library the tax benefit model tables on the marginal rate of deductions for
disabled people for the latest period for which figures are available. [127911]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 19 March 2007]: Data on claimants of disability living allowance and attendance allowance are collected but not used to calculate marginal deduction rates for inclusion in the tax benefit model tables.
Social Security Benefits: Immigrants
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what benefit entitlements are for unemployed A2 and A8 migrants who have previously been in employment in the UK for less than a year. [129014]
Mr. Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave on 28 February 2007, Official Report, column 1413W.
Standard Housing Allowance
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact on work incentives of the pilot standard housing allowance. [117575]
Mr. Plaskitt: Evidence from the pathfinder local housing allowance evaluation to date suggests that claimants who are paid their benefit directly are more likely to report that they are looking for work, and the proportion of claimants paid directly has increased from 50 per cent. to 84 per cent. Increased financial inclusion can improve work readiness and 91 per cent. of tenants have a bank or building society account, with around a quarter of claimants saying that they opened an account because of the local housing allowance. Additionally, the transparency of the local housing allowance is reported to make discussions about work between advisers and claimants easier. Some of these effects of the local housing allowance, such as increased financial inclusion, will take time to impact on claimant behaviour.
The final evaluation reports are scheduled to be published in the summer.
State Retirement Pensions: Greater London
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of age addition to their state pension in Greater London. [127237]
James Purnell: As at March 2006, there were 234,000 state pension claimants in Greater London in receipt of the 25p age addition.
Notes:
1. Data are taken from a 5 per cent. sample and therefore subject to sampling variation.
2. Data have been rated to 100 per cent. WPLS data and rounded to the nearest hundred.
Source:
Information Directorate 5 per cent. Quarterly Statistical Enquiry sample and 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study data.
Trade and Industry
Small Business
12. Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the number of Government schemes in place to support small businesses. [128960]
Margaret Hodge: DTI Ministers and Ministers from the Treasury meet regularly to discuss a range of issues.
Businesses: Taxation
13. Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the impact of taxation on businesses. [128961]
Mr. Darling: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones).
Research Councils
14. Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effect of the recently announced change in research councils' budgets on the work of individual research councils. [128962]
Malcolm Wicks: There has been no change to the annual budgets of research councils. What my hon. Friend announced on 20 February 2007 were reductions to the stock of accumulated end of year flexibility (EYF).
The research councils are now considering the implications for their planned activities, and are making individual announcements as they make decisions. Four councils have so far made announcements—the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. The others will follow suit over the course of the rest of March and April 2007.
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
15. Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International liquidation; and if he will make a statement. [128964]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The conduct of the liquidation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA is a matter for the liquidators.
The liquidators will shortly be submitting their annual report to the Secretary of State covering the 12-month period to 15 January 2007.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the liquidation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International to be resolved. [129549]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The liquidators are making every effort to conclude the liquidation and pay final amounts to creditors as soon as possible, however, the English liquidation is one of several worldwide that are closely linked and only when they are all substantially complete will it be possible for a formal conclusion in this country.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with creditors in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International case. [129550]
Jim Fitzpatrick: From time to time Ministers have met my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) in the company of one or more deposit creditors of BCCI.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions his Department has had with counterparts in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg authorities regarding the Bank of Credit and Commerce International liquidation. [129551]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has had no discussions with authorities in the Cayman Islands or Luxemburg on this matter; the progress and control of the liquidations are matters for the liquidators, creditors and courts of the various jurisdictions.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to improve administrative processes in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International case. [129552]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The administration of the liquidations is a matter for the liquidators, creditors and courts of the various jurisdictions. The Secretary of State has no role to play in such administration.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the final cost to the public purse of the liquidation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International; and what proportion of total moneys recovered this represents. [129553]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The cost of the BCCI liquidation will be entirely borne by the company’s estate.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the lessons to be drawn from the liquidation process of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. [129554]
Jim Fitzpatrick: BCCI’s has been one of the most complex liquidations ever, which has resulted in exceptional returns to creditors, who will have received 84 per cent. of what they are owed by the end of 2007. This case has shown how the liquidation process can benefit from the close involvement of creditors in assisting liquidators to carry out their functions.
Home Renewable Energy Schemes
16. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will increase his Department’s allocation of funds to home renewable energy schemes. [128965]
Malcolm Wicks: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme has two phases with the aim of helping to build a sustainable industry for microgeneration technologies.
Phase 1 (£30 million) was launched in April 2006 and provides several streams of funding for householders. Phase 2, with a £50 million budget announced in Budget 2006, was launched in December. It supports projects in the public and not for profit sectors, with the specific aim of driving down the costs of microgeneration technologies. Both phases continue to make good progress.
Under Phase 1 we have so far committed £7.2 million to 4,550 household projects and £1.1 million to 64 community projects, and we expect to commit around £2.3 million to the 26 Stream 2 projects in the first round of grant awards.
The Low Carbon Buildings Programme is a demonstration not a deployment programme, and we believe that the current funding made available to the household stream will allow us to meet the key objectives of the scheme. We aim to continue funding until June 2008, by which time some of our wider measures to promote microgeneration should be taking hold.
UK and EU Trade Balance
17. Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the UK trade balance was with other European Union countries in the latest period for which figures are available. [128966]
Malcolm Wicks: The UK deficit on trade in goods and services with the EU25 was £37.9 billion in 2005 (the latest period for which a complete set of figures is available).
The ONS caution that following a change in the pattern of trade associated with MTIC Fraud, interpretation of the breakdown between EU and non-EU trade is more difficult.
Total UK exports (goods + services) were £326 billion in 2005—up 9 per cent. on 2004.
The stock of inward investment in the UK rose to £483 billion at the end of 2005, a rise of £119 billion over the stock at the end of 2004.
Departments: Advertising
Mike Penning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional
campaigns in each year since 1997; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to (a) television, (b) radio and (c) print media. [128067]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Figures for broken-down costs of such spending by the Department through the Central Office of Information are available for 2004-05 and 2005-06 but are not readily available for the preceding years and to provide these would incur disproportionate cost.
The figures for 2004-05 and 2005-06 for the cost of advertising on TV, on radio and in the press (including advertising by the Small Business Service) and excluding production costs and VAT are as follows:
| £ | |||
| TV | Radio | Press | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |