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26 July 2007 : Column 1496Wcontinued
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will link the permitted work upper earnings level to the minimum wage; and if he will make a statement. [152149]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 24 July 2007]: The permitted work upper earnings limit has been linked to the national minimum wage since it was introduced in 2002. It will be increased from £86 a week to £88.50 a week from 1 October this year to maintain this link.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness with which pension fund trustees are carrying out their functions in relation to divorcees under the new rules on pension sharing; and if he will make a statement. [152560]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Pension sharing on divorce became available for all new divorces commenced on or after 1 December 2000, to enable divorcing couples to achieve a fair financial settlement.
All trustees are required to have a knowledge and understanding of the law relating to pensions.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average weekly income of (a) a pensioner couple and (b) a single pensioner in (i) the UK, (ii) Yorkshire and Humber and (iii) City of York constituency was in (A) real and (B) cash terms in (1) 1997 and (2) the latest date for which figures are available. [152211]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information that is available is shown in the following tables. Information cannot be provided at a lower level than government office region.
Average gross weekly income by family type in real terms ( £ per week, 2005-06 prices) | ||
1997-981999-2000 | 2003-042005-06 | |
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women in the UK are not eligible to receive a full state pension. [152650]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: As of August 2006 there were around 3.5 million women of state pension age in Great Britain not receiving a full basic State Pension.
Notes:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 50,000.
Figures refer to women living in GB as UK data are not available.
The full rate of basic State Pension in August 2006 was £84.25 per week.
A full basic State Pension is paid to those who fully satisfy the contribution conditions either in their own right or where applicable, on the basis of their late or former spouse's contributions.
Source:
Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. The data is available via the Tabulation Tool on the Departments website at:
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether the Financial Assistance Scheme asks qualifying pension schemes to provide information which could enable it to determine whether the employer in relation to the scheme took a contributory holiday at any stage; [152340]
(2) whether he intends to undertake research on the extent to which employers in relation to qualifying schemes for the Financial Assistance Scheme took contribution holidays. [152341]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: There is no requirement on the Department to request or hold information relating to pension contribution holidays. I have no plans to undertake such research.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of pensioners in the UK receive the minimum level of weekly income in retirement as defined by the Government. [152651]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The guarantee credit element of Pension Credit ensures people aged 60 or over have a minimum guaranteed weekly income of £119.05 for single people and £181.70 for couples. This is known as the standard minimum guarantee. There are £1.5 million beneficiaries of the standard minimum guarantee, which represents around 12 per cent. of the population aged 60 or over. This does not include people who are entitled to additional amounts within their Pension Credit for severe disabilities, caring responsibilities and housing costs.
Notes:
Figures are derived from the DWP five per cent sample data, rated to match 100 per cent totals.
Beneficiary figures are as at November 2006.
GB population figures are as at mid 2005.
Beneficiary figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and include those receiving guarantee credit only and those on guarantee credit and savings credit.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate five per cent sample and 100 per cent Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study data; and ONS, Population Estimates Unit
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) children under 16 years old, (b) adults and (c) pensioners were living in severe poverty in each year since 1997. [150063]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not available as there is no standard definition of severe poverty.
An internationally recognised measure of low incomeand the most commonly used globallyis 60 per cent. of median household income.
In the Households Below Average Income report, the Department reports on low income, and sets out the percentage of households with less than 70, 60 and 50 per cent. of equivalised median income.
The latest figures on low income for people in the UK can be found in Households Below Average Income 1994/95-2005/06 (Revised).
Danny Alexander:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of claims for (a) jobseekers allowance, (b) incapacity benefit and (c)
income support were made (i) over the telephone, (ii) using a paper form and (iii) in person in each of the last 10 years. [152659]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the outcome is of the disability equality impact assessment of the personal capability assessment. [152130]
Caroline Flint: A disability equality impact assessment (DEIA) of the revised personal capability assessment (PCA) has been carried out as part of the Department's overall DEIA of welfare reforms.
The mental health component of the PCA has been thoroughly reviewed in order to ensure that it reflects the type of conditions prevalent today. In particular it now reflects the needs of people with learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder, and other conditions that are not mental illnesses but that have a significant impact on mental function. We anticipate that this will lead to assessments that are more equitable between groups with different impairments.
The new element of the PCA, the work-focused, health-related assessment, explores the person's perceptions and concerns about their condition, as well as identifying health-related support and interventions that will help the person to get back into work.
Throughout the review of the PCA, stakeholder groups representing disabled people have been fully consulted and involved; and focus groups containing a number of people with mental illness, learning disability, or autistic spectrum disorder have been consulted. The work-focused, health-related assessment has been piloted with customers claiming incapacity benefit.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of unemployment benefits was (a) at current prices and (b) as a percentage of gross domestic product in each year since 1979. [152210]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is in the following tables.
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