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9 May 2007 : Column 257W—continued


Pensioners: Overseas Residence

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take action to ensure that people living abroad and eligible for UK pensions receive increases in pensions in line with domestic pensioners; and if he will make a statement. [134633]

James Purnell: We have no plans to change the current arrangements whereby the UK state pension is uprated for UK pensioners living overseas.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information is given to pensioners on their entitlement to benefits upon reaching the age of retirement. [134018]

James Purnell: Information on entitlement to benefits upon reaching state pension age (currently 60 for women and 65 for men) is provided in a number of ways:

A state pension claim pack is sent out to all customers, four months and four days before their state pension age. This includes information on pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit.

Customers who claim their state pension by telephone are now also able to claim any entitlements they may have to pension credit, housing benefit and/or council tax benefit in the same call.

Winter fuel payments are made to people aged 60 or over (men and women). Over 99 per cent. of the payments are made automatically without the need to claim. Some people who are not in receipt of a benefit administered by DWP need to claim. Each year we send claim forms automatically to everyone who we know from departmental records will be aged 60 by the end of the qualifying week and for whom we have a current address. An extensive publicity campaign begins in July and includes advertisements in both regional and national newspapers.

Pensions: Index Linking

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of what the cost to the Government would have been in each year had pensions been linked to earnings rather than prices since 1997. [132731]

James Purnell: The estimates are in the following table.


9 May 2007 : Column 258W
Basic state pension cost (£ billion)

1998

0.1

1999

0.5

2000

1.3

2001

1.6

2002

2.4

2003

2.7

2004

2.8

2005

2.9

2006

3.4

2007

3.8

Note: Figures are net in cash terms, are rounded to the nearest million and include UK and overseas pensions Source: DWP modelling.

The earnings link will be restored to the basic state pension. The objective is that this will be done, subject to affordability and the fiscal position, in 2012 but in any event at the latest by the end of the next Parliament.

By 2050 the amount of the basic state pension will roughly double in value compared with current policies.

Remploy: Closures

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what closures of Remploy sites are planned; how many (a) employees and (b) agency workers there are at each site; and what he expects the costs to be of the closures; [133084]

(2) which aspects of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report on Remploy he plans to implement; [133085]

(3) what deadlines have been set to turn around Remploy sites running at a financial loss; and if he will make a statement. [133104]

Mrs. McGuire: In my statement on 19 July 2006 I said I would be asking the board of Remploy to undertake the preliminary work to bring forward later this year a five-year restructuring plan with proposals both to modernise the business and to support substantially larger numbers of disabled people into work. It is currently working on that plan.

Remploy: Pay

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes there have been to senior management salaries at Remploy since May 1997; and if he will make a statement. [133105]

Mrs. McGuire: As Remploy is a non-departmental public body, the senior management salaries are subject to a pay remit process, which requires that pay increases are within Treasury limits for public sector pay. Remploy pay remits require the approval of the Secretary of State, on behalf of the Treasury. The Remploy senior management pay remit for 2007-08 is currently being considered.

Remploy no longer holds information on senior management salaries prior to April 2002. The agreed senior management pay remit increases since 2002 are in the following table.


9 May 2007 : Column 259W
Senior management pay remit increases
Percentage increase

2002-03

2.5

2003-04

2.5

2004-05

2.62

2005-06

3.21

2006-07

3.5


Sick Leave

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of employees returned to work following an absence caused by illness or injury lasting up to (a) two weeks, (b) one month, (c) three months and (d) six months in the last period for which figures are available. [132822]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is contained in the following table. It was obtained from
9 May 2007 : Column 260W
the computer systems that managers use to record absences. The figures are for the period 1 January 2006- 31 December 2006.

The table shows two sets of figures broken down into length of absence where the employee returned to work during the period. The first shows all recorded sickness absences, while the second shows absences recorded as injury and poisoning. It is not possible to show the number and percentage of employees returning from sickness absences of different durations because some employees have had more than one absence during the period; therefore, the figures show the number of absences in each category.

Absences relating to injury are recorded against a category of ‘Injury and Poisoning’. This includes, for example, the toxic effects of alcohol or drugs, any surgical procedures, and road traffic accidents. It is not possible separately to identify cases relating to injuries.

All sickness absences Absences due to injury and poisoning
Absence duration Number of absences Percentage of total absences Number of absences Percentage of total absences

Up to two weeks

183,779

90.61

3,185

78.53

Up to one month

7,966

3.93

308

7.59

Up to three months

8,274

4.08

445

10.97

Up to six months

2,229

1.10

84

2.07

Over six months

583

0.29

34

0.84

Total absences

202,831

100.00

4,056

100.00


Winter Fuel Payments: Elderly

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the annual cost of raising the winter fuel allowance for the over-80s by £25 per annum. [132727]

James Purnell: The winter fuel payment has risen from £20 in winter 1997-98 to £200 from winter 2000-01 and to £300 for those aged 80 or over from winter 2003-04. The estimated annual cost of raising the winter fuel payment by £25 for people aged 80 or over in 2007-08 is around £50 million.

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of increasing the winter fuel allowance for pensioners aged over 80 years by £25 per year. [135553]

James Purnell [holding answer 3 May 2007]: The winter fuel payment has risen from £20 in winter 1997-98 to £200 from winter 2000-01 and to £300 for those aged 80 or over from winter 2003-04. The estimated annual cost of raising the winter fuel payment by £25 for people aged 80 or over in 2007-08 is around £50 million.

Winter Fuel Payments: Tamworth

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Tamworth constituency claimed the winter fuel allowance in each year since its introduction. [132738]

James Purnell: Information relating to winter fuel payments for the winters of 1997-98 and 1998-99 is not available. The information from winter 1999-2000 is in the following table. Figures for winter 2006-07 are not yet available but we expect the number to be similar to that for 2005-06.

Tamworth constituency
Payments made

1999-2000

12,520

2000-01

14,480

2001-02

14,850

2002-03

15,230

2003-04

15,710

2004-05

15,940

2005-06

16,460

Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. Source: Information directorate 100 per cent data.

Health

Acute Beds: Greater London

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute beds per 100,000 population there were in each primary care trust in London in each year since 1997. [132332]

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not available. However, information on the number of acute beds per 100,000 population in each former London strategic health authority (SHA) from 2002-03 to 2005-06 is shown in the following table. These SHAs now collectively form NHS London. Information prior to 2002-03 is not available as SHAs did not exist.


9 May 2007 : Column 261W

9 May 2007 : Column 262W
Acute beds per 100,000 population, strategic health authorities (SHA) in London, 2002-03 to 2005-06
Acute beds Population Acute beds per 1000,000 population

2002-03

North West London

3,886

1,806,532

215

North Central London

3,249

1,213,768

268

North East London

3,430

1,527,794

225

South East London

3,174

1,515,226

210

South West London

2,658

1,307,919

203

2003-04

North West London

3,903

1,814,671

215

North Central London

3,376

1,220,221

277

North East London

3,470

1,530,792

227

South East London

3,164

1,511,793

209

South West London

2,763

1,310,391

211

2004-05

North West London

4,012

1,834,066

219

North Central London

3,300

1,227,957

269

North East London

3,392

1,531,427

221

South East London

3,102

1,514,122

205

South West London

2,870

1,321,018

217

2005-06

North West London

3,870

1,871,187

207

North Central London

3,271

1,243,437

263

North East London

3,409

1,542,634

221

South East London

2,941

1,524,646

193

South West London

2,845

1,335,822

213

Notes:
Population data are mid-year resident population estimates based on the 2001 census.
Source:
Department of Health form KH03 and Office for National Statistics

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