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23 July 2007 : Column 725W—continued

Departments: Legislation

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which legislative provisions introduced by his Department since 1997 have not yet been brought into force. [149706]

Mrs. McGuire: The information is as follows.

23 July 2007 : Column 726W

23 July 2007 : Column 727W

Acts introduced by DWP since 1997	Sections not yet in force
Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999	Section 25
Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000	Section 28
	Schedules 5 para. 12(2)-(4)
	Schedule 7 paras. 17 and 18(2)(b)
	Schedule 9 part III (1) and part V
Pensions Act 2004	Section 12(2)(c)
	Section 20(3)(c)
	Section 38(4)
	Section 38(7)(g)
	Section 41(10)(f)
	Section 42(2)(c)
	Section 43(7)(e)
	Section 47(4)(g)
	Section 50(10)(f)
	Section 95(1)(b)(ii)
	Section 96(6)(u)
	Section 101(2)(d)
	Section 108(3)
	Section 117(2)(b)
	Section 118
	Section 121(9)(b)
	Section 134(2)(d)
	Section 138(10)(a)
	Section 150(6)(d)
	Section 151(12)(a)
	Section 161(3)(b)
	Section 163(5)(b)
	Section 166(6) and (7)
	Section 169(2)(d)
	Section 173(1)(k)
	Section 177(6) and (7)
	Section 179(1)(b)
	Section 180(4)
	Section 181(2)(b)
	Section 187
	Section 188(3)(d)
	Section 189(3)(b)
	Section 209(4)(e)
	Section 209(5)
	Section 213(4)(e)
	Section 213(5)(e)
	Section 214(2)(k)
	Section 237 and 238
	Section 240
	Section 273
	Section 306(2)(i)
	Section 308
	Section 318(4)(b)
	Schedule 5 part 1 para. 13(3)(b)
	Schedule 12 para. 76(2)(e)
	Schedule 13 part 2
Disability Discrimination Act 2005	Section 6(1) and (2)
	Section 7 and 8
Welfare Reform Act 2007	Sections 1-30
	Section 31 (partly in force)
	Sections 32-39
	Section 40 (in force for certain purposes)
	Section 41 (partly in force)
	Sections 42 and 43
	Sections 46-53
	Section 56 and 57
	Section 58 (in force for certain purposes)
	Section 60
	Section 61 (partly in force)
	Section 63 (in force for certain purposes)
	Section 67 (in force for certain purposes)
	Schedule 1-4
	Schedule 5 (partly in force)
	Schedule 6 (in force for certain purposes)
	Schedule 7 (partly in force)

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Bills introduced by his Department in the last five years have contained sunset clauses; and what plans he has for the future use of such clauses. [151839]

Mrs. McGuire: The only Bill introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions in the past five years which contained a sunset clause was the Bill for the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (see section 31(3) of that Act).

While the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has no current plans for the future use of such clauses, he will consider their use when appropriate.

Departments: Public Transport

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of its staff using public transport to commute. [147347]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department has 112,000 staff in 1,221 buildings. Due to the scale of our operations we do not collect information on the commuting choices of our staff, and have no plans to do so. It is not possible to estimate the number of staff using public transport to commute, as this would be different in every building. But a variety of information is provided to staff to help them make personal choices about their commuting journeys, via our intranet site and Sustainable Development staff magazine—such as links to ‘Transport Direct’ and suggestions on car-sharing schemes. Businesses are encouraged to operate a green travel plan at those sites where one would be beneficial.

Departments: Translation Services

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) translation services and (b) translators in each of the last five years. [149959]

23 July 2007 : Column 728W

Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available in the categorisations requested. In 2006-07, the Department spent around £267,500 on translation services including translators. Information is not available for previous years, other than at disproportionate cost.

Financial Assistance Scheme: Insurance

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the use of with profits insurance funds in support of the Financial Assistance Scheme. [150723]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Secretary of State has not yet had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about this issue.

Financial Assistance Scheme: Pensions

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to make a statement on the findings of the Young review. [150725]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: On 16 July the interim report of the Financial Assistance Scheme Review of Scheme Assets was published and the House was informed via a written ministerial statement. At the same time, I welcomed the first findings of the review in a press notice issued by my Department.

Home Responsibilities Protection

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2007, Official Report, column 1226W, on home responsibilities protection (HRP), what estimate he has made of the number of women who began to receive state retirement pension who had any recorded HRP, including women for whom such HRP did not reduce the number of qualifying years needed for a full state pension, in each year between 1978-79 and 2004-05. [151449]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The available information is set out in the following table.

The second column of the table shows the number of women aged 60 in each financial year from 1985-86 to 2004-05 with some entitlement to basic state pension who had home responsibilities protection (HRP), including women for whom such HRP did not reduce the number of qualifying years required for a full basic state pension.

23 July 2007 : Column 729W

Number of women with HRP, including those for whom HRP did not reduce qualifying years needed for full BSP
	Number
1985-86	20,000
1986-87	30,000
1987-88	30,000
1988-89	40,000
1989-90	50,000
1990-91	60,000
1991-92	60,000
1992-93	60,000
1993-94	70,000
1994-95	70,000
1995-96	80,000
1996-97	80,000
1997-98	100,000
1998-99	100,000
1999-2000	100,000
2000-01	110,000
2001-02	110,000
2002-03	130,000
2003-04	150,000
2004-05	170,000
Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and are consistent with the information supplied in the answer of 8 February 2007. 2. Figures refer to women living in the UK and overseas. 3. Information at this level of detail is not reliable before 1985. 4. Some women who reach state pension age in a particular year with some entitlement to basic state pension may defer their entitlement and claim in a later year. 5. HRP does not reduce the number of qualifying years required for a full basic state pension when that year is already a qualifying year or is one for which a married woman's reduced rate election is in force. 6. Figures refer to those women with some entitlement to basic state pension based on their own contribution record. Entitlement to basic state pension requires satisfying the ‘first contribution condition’ and the ‘25 per cent. rule’. Some women who do not satisfy one or both of these conditions may, nevertheless, also have HRP recorded. Source: Lifetime Labour Market Database 2, 2003-04

Incapacity Benefit

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed incapacity benefit in each year since 1997. [150051]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table.

Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance (IB/SDA) claimants: Great Britain
	Number of claimants
November 1997	2,837,400
November 1998	2,767,400
November 1999	2,738,130
November 2000	2,764,140
November 2001	2,787,710
November 2002	2,818,480
November 2003	2,822,270
November 2004	2,814,410
November 2005	2,752,900
November 2006	2,714,950
Notes: 1. Caseload figures from 1999 onwards are rounded to the nearest 10. Some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Caseload figures for 1997 and 1998 are rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. Caseloads for 1997 and 1998 have been produced using 5 per cent. data and have been rated up in accordance with the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals. 4. 1997 and 1998 figures are from a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 5. From 6 April 2001, no new claims to SDA were accepted. 6. Figures include credits only cases. Source: 1. DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 1999 onwards. 2. Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample, 1997 and 1998.

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