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29 Mar 2007 : Column 1718Wcontinued
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many written parliamentary questions to his Department in the 2005-06 session were not answered wholly or in part on grounds of disproportionate cost. [113281]
James Purnell: This information is not held in the format requested. However, it is a matter of public record and can be found in the Official Report.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women were working part-time in (a) 1979 and (b) 2006; and how many of these were earning below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions in each period. [123623]
James Purnell [holding answer 26 February 2007]: The Labour Force Survey (LFS) uses self-classification to determine full or part time employment status. The LFS for spring 2006 shows 4.6 million part-time female employees. The survey records 1.5 million part-time female employees earning less than £84 per week. Results for spring 1979 show 3.4 million part-time female employees, but no information on earnings was collected in 1979.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason the tender deadline for phase 1 of the private and voluntary sector Pathways to Work pilots was extended to 11 April; what impact he expects the extension to have on service delivery; and if he will make a statement. [125347]
Mr. Jim Murphy: We have extended the deadline for phase 1 provider led Pathways so that potential providers can better take into account the impact of the introduction of the employment and support allowance. This does not adversely affect the national rollout of Pathways.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners his Department estimates are eligible for pension credit in (a) the UK and (b) Wales; how many pensioners in (i) the UK and (ii) Wales have taken up pension credit each year since it was introduced; and if he will make a statement. [128428]
James Purnell: Estimates of eligibility and therefore take-up are not available below the level of Great Britain, it is not therefore possible to say how many people are eligible to pension credit or what the take-up is in Wales.
The latest estimate of the number of pensioners entitled to pension credit in Great Britain is between 3.7 million and 4.2 million.
The latest estimates of the take-up of the main income-related benefits: income support, pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseekers allowance (income-based) in Great Britain can be found in the DWP report entitled Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2004/2005. Copies of the publication are available in the Library.
Pension credit has been highly successful in reducing pensioner poverty and now, after housing costs have been accounted for, pensioners are less likely to be in poverty than the population as a whole. Since the introduction of pension credit, the number of pensioners in relative poverty has fallen by half a million.
We continue to make every effort to ensure that pension credit goes to those who are entitled to it. The table shows the number of households in Great Britain and Wales receiving pension credit each year since its introduction.
In Northern Ireland pension credit administration is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Pension credit household recipients | ||
Great Britain | Wales | |
Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10/100. 2. Pension credit was introduced on 6 October 2003 and replaced minimum income guarantee (income support for people aged 60 or over). 3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data |
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each constituency in Wales were in receipt of pension credit in each year since 2003; and how much was claimed in pension credit in each Welsh constituency in each year; and if he will make a statement. [128425]
James Purnell: The answer is set out in the following table.
Household recipients of pension credit and the cost of pension credit expenditure for constituencies in WalesNovember 2003 and November 2004 | ||||
Parliamentary constituencies | Number of household recipients November 2003 (thousand) | Annual minimum income guarantee and pension credit expenditure 2003 (£ million nominal terms) | Number of household recipients November 2004 (thousand) | Annual pension credit expenditure 2004 (£ million nominal terms) |
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