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26 July 2007 : Column 1483Wcontinued
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of businesses in the UK which are not fully compliant with the asbestos regulations. [149890]
Mrs. McGuire: No such estimate has been made.
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive, local authorities, Her Majestys Custom and Excise and the Office of the Rail Regulator monitor compliance with those asbestos regulations dealing with health and safety matters when visiting premises in Great Britain and will issue notices or undertake prosecutions in accordance with the Health and Safety Commissions enforcement policy when businesses fail to comply.
HSE also publishes research undertaken on levels of compliance with particular asbestos regulations on its website such as the recently published Cascading
messages through othersthe effect on awareness of, and compliance with the duty to manage asbestos regulations (RR559).
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions have been brought in the last five years against businesses failing to comply with asbestos regulations; and how many asbestos-related deaths have occurred during the last five years. [149891]
Mrs. McGuire: In the five-year period 2001-02 to 2005-06 there were 257 offences prosecuted by the HSEs Field Operations Directorate (FOD) and local authorities under asbestos regulations in Great Britain, of which there were 195 convictions. A yearly breakdown of offences prosecuted is provided in the following table.
Offences prosecuted | Convictions | Total fines (£) | Average fine (£) | |
There is no single source of data that gives the total number of asbestos-related deaths. The number of deaths from mesothelioma and asbestosis combined in Great Britain in each of the last five years for which data are available are given in the following table.
Great Britain | |
Number | |
(1) Provisional Sources: HSE GB mesothelioma register HSE GB asbestosis register |
The total number of asbestos-related lung cancer deaths cannot be directly enumerated, since asbestos-related lung cancers (other than mesothelioma) are clinically indistinguishable from lung cancers due to other causes. Current evidence suggests that the number of other asbestos-related lung cancer deaths is similar to the number of deaths due to mesothelioma. Therefore, since mesothelioma deaths account for the vast majority in the above tabled, the total number of deaths due to asbestos is likely to be approximately double that given above.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average income of those aged over 65 years (a) was in 1997 and (b) is now. [152648]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information that is available is shown in the following table.
Average gross income of pensioner units where the head is aged 65 or over (per week, 2005-06 prices) | ||
£ | ||
1997-98 | 2005-06 | |
Notes 1. Gross income is income from all sources received by the pensioner unit including income from social security benefits, earnings from employment, any private pension, and tax credits. 2. Based on survey data and as such subject to a degree of sampling and non sampling error. 3. Figures are for Great Britain. 4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £ 5. Pensioner units are either pensioner couples or single pensioners. 6. Pensioner couples are couples where one or more of the adults are state pension age or over. 7. The head of the benefit unit in most cases will be the same as the head of household. Head of household is classified as the highest income householder (person in whose name the property is owned or rented) without regard to gender. For households where the pensioner benefit unit does not include the head of household, the head of benefit unit will be the first person interviewed in the benefit unit. Source: Pensioners Income Series 2005-06 (Revised) |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what obligations will be placed on non-resident parents to report changes of (a) employment, (b) income and (c) address under the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission; and if he will make a statement. [146140]
Mr. Plaskitt: There are no plans to require non-resident parents to report such changes in circumstances.
Maintenance will normally be based on income figures provided by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the latest available tax year. But if the non-resident parent's income changes, and their current income is higher or lower than the HMRC figure by 25 per cent. or more, the non-resident parent or parent with care will be able to report this as a change of circumstance. The maintenance calculation would then be reviewed and based on the non-resident parent's current income.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of Child Support Agency liability orders contained inaccuracies in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [146143]
Mr. Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 June 2007, Official report, column 431W.
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the responsibilities are of the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Plaskitt) with regard to the Child Support Agency. [152070]
Mr. Plaskitt: My noble Friend Lord McKenzie of Luton has the policy lead for the Child Support Agency. I have portfolio responsibility for the Child Support Agency in the House of Commons.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Child Support Agency (CSA) has authority to make advance payments of arrears in cases where the arrears are due to error on the part of the CSA; and if he will make a statement. [150572]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 18 July 2007]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 26 July 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Support Agency (CSA) has authority to make advance payments of arrears in cases where the arrears is due to error on the part of the CSA; and if he will make a statement. [150572]
An advance payment of maintenance is a discretionary lump sum payment of arrears made to a parent with care by the Agency before the money is collected from the non-resident parent. The criteria which must be met before the Agency can authorise payment are set out in the Advance Payments of Maintenance Guide, which can be found at http://intralink/2/csa/guides/apm_guide/apm_guide.htm.
Where there is a request for an advance payment of maintenance the Agency will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of a case to determine whether it is a valid request. Only those cases where maladministration is established and that satisfy all the pre-defined administrative criteria can be considered.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount of Child Support Agency arrears which is recoverable; how much of that he expects to be recovered by (a) 2008, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012, (e) 2015 and (f) 2020; and if he will make a statement. [146168]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Agency has committed this year, under the Operational Improvement Plan, to collect £970 million in child support maintenance of which at least £120 million is arrears. The Agency has estimated £1.4 billion of existing arrears is collectable.
The Government propose in the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill to introduce powers to encourage ongoing compliance by extending the range of enforcement powers that are currently available to the Agency and streamlining the framework in which they are used. The Bill also proposes to introduce powers so that the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will be able to manage debt more effectively. Subject to parliamentary approval the Commission will be able to:
negotiate debt settlements; with agreement of the PWC.
recover arrears from the estate of deceased non-resident parents;
offset child maintenance liabilities; and
write off debt in very limited circumstances, typically with agreement of PWC.
Future arrears recovery targets have yet to be agreed.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency cases involved committal proceedings in each of the last five years. [147934]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty dated 26 July 2007:
In reply to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases involved committal proceedings in each of the last five years. [147934]
The information you asked for is provided in the attached table. This includes sentences passed for England, Wales and Scotland.
Commitment to prison or disqualification from holding a driving licence is the ultimate sanction available to the courts for recovery of arrears of Child Support maintenance. If the non-resident parent is found guilty of wilful refusal or culpable neglect the court will decide which of the available sanctions is the most appropriate.
I hope you find this answer helpful
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) liability orders, (b) county court orders, (c) third party debt orders and (d) property charging orders were secured by the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years. [147935]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 26 July 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) liability orders (b) county court orders (c) third party debt orders and (d) property charging orders were secured by the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.
To enable us to provide you with as much information as possible, we are providing figures on how many orders for recovery have been granted by the County Courts with subsequent registration of the order as county court judgements, and the number of Child Support Agency orders registered by the Agency in the Register of Judgements, Orders and Fines.
The information available is displayed in the attached table. Robust information is not available in relation to the number of orders for recovery third party debt and charging orders granted prior to the introduction of the new Management Information database during 2003.
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