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8 Oct 2007 : Column 149W—continued


Occupational Pensions

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of occupational pension schemes in the UK which (a) have completed wind-up and (b) are in the process of winding up; what proportion began wind-up after 2 May 1997 in each case; and what his estimate is of the number of members of such schemes. [154287]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The following information was provided by the pensions regulator.

Pension Protection Fund: Information Officers

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many press officers are employed by the Pension Protection Fund. [154722]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: As at 27 July 2007 the Pension Protection Fund has one press officer.

Pensions Regulator: Information Officers

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many press officers are employed by the Pensions Regulator. [154685]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: As at 27 July 2007 the Pensions Regulator has two press officers.

Pensions: Forecasts

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason the Retirement Pension Forecasting Team is no longer able to provide forecasts of additional state pensions; when the situation will be resolved; and how many people he estimates will be affected. [154879]


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Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 10 September 2007]: The computer systems used to produce state pension forecasts are being updated to reflect the new state pension rules included within the Pensions Act 2007 and therefore the Pension Service retirement pension forecasting team is temporarily unable to provide a state pension forecast to people who reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2010. We aim to have the system changes in place by autumn 2008.

People reaching state pension age after 2010 who contact the Pension Service retirement pension forecasting team will still be able to obtain personalised information including:

This means people can still receive the help they need to plan for their retirement, and the vast majority of customers using these transitional arrangements have been happy with the service provided.

People who reach state pension age before 6 April 2010 can continue to receive state pension forecasts from the retirement pension forecasting team. These forecasts include information on both basic and additional state pension.

Approximately half of the people who use the forecasting “on request” (either online or by phone) service are affected by the current suspension. Based on previous requests for state pension forecasts in 2005-06 we estimate the suspension will impact 300,000 individuals.

The combined pension forecasting service is also suspended until autumn 2008 and this affects approximately 4 million individuals.

In the meantime the Pension Service are working closely with their IT suppliers to explore ways in which the timetable for reflecting state pension changes in state pension forecasting systems could be advanced.

Pensioners: Overseas Residence

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in respect of how many pensions the UK Pension Service submitted papers to the International Pension Service in 2006; and, of these, how many people received their overseas pension entitlements within four months. [156411]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is not collected or recorded by the Department.

Personal Injury: Compensation

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many personal injury claims by members of the public from local authorities were reported to his Department, in accordance with the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997, in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [153857]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is in the following table:


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Personal injury claims against local authorities
Financial year of recovery Number of claims

2004-05

16,204

2005-06

12,839

2006-07

9,058

Notes:
1. The figures quoted are for personal injury claims made by the public against local authorities.
2. All cases settled prior to 1 January 2005, which showed that there were no recoverable benefits due to the Secretary of State, have been archived, and are therefore not included in these figures.
Source:
Figures produced by the Compensation Recovery Unit.

Remploy: Closures

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what criteria were Remploy factories selected for closure. [156492]

Mrs. McGuire: The main selection criteria used by Remploy in proposing which of their factories should close was long-term business sustainability. The Company examined, business by business, which factories had the best opportunity to reach their commercial objectives. Finally, in each location where closure was being considered, Remploy reviewed whether they would be able to support their disabled employees in mainstream employment.

The Secretary of State will make a decision on the future of Remploy, once he receives Remploy's final proposals later this year. Until then, no Government decision will be made concerning Remploy's factories.

Social Security Benefits

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what definition his Department uses of habitual residence for the purpose of claiming benefit; and what definition is used in other European Economic Area States. [154695]

Mr. Plaskitt: Entitlement to income-related benefits requires that a person has a right to reside and be habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland (generally known as the Common Travel Area). If a person does not have a right to reside then he or she is treated as not being habitually resident and is not entitled to those benefits. A person who has a right to reside must also show that he or she is habitually resident in the UK unless he or she falls into an exemption category, such as that for EU workers.

The term “habitual residence” is not defined in UK social security legislation but there is both domestic and EC case law on how that term should be interpreted. In order to determine whether a person is habitually resident, decision makers will, on the basis of the guidelines set out in the case law, consider a variety of factors about the person’s circumstances. These include, for example, his or her attachment to and intentions in the UK; his or her reasons for coming here; and whether the person has family in the UK etc. Benefit decision-makers must be satisfied on objective grounds that a person who claims income-related benefits after arriving in the country has genuinely adopted the UK as his or her place of habitual residence.


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Where other European Economic Area States use the term “habitual residence” as a condition of entitlement to benefit, the term should be used in accordance with their domestic law and EC case law.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what evaluation he has made of the abuse of accommodation address agencies by perpetrators of (a) benefit fraud and (b) other criminal activity relating to the responsibilities of his Department. [156593]

Mr. Plaskitt: No such evaluation has been made.

Social Security Benefits: Illegal Immigrants

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures he has put in place to track the amount of benefits paid erroneously to illegal immigrants. [154286]

Mr. Plaskitt: Illegal immigrants are not entitled to DWP administered benefits. Rigorous checking processes are built into the benefit application systems to ensure that the gateway to the benefits system is secure.

State Retirement Pensions

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of successful claims for state retirement pension was made (a) by telephone interview, (b) by personal interview, (c) by post and (d) online in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [156385]

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

All state pension applications processed( 1) (successful and unsuccessful) 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2007
Percentage of total applications processed

Telephone Interview

28

Personal Interview

4

Post I

66

Online

2

Total

100

(1) Figures of successful applications are not recorded.
Source:
Weekly Performance data supplied by pension centres and local service system data August 2007.

State Retirement Pensions: Widowed People

Mr. Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information is available to the public in the form of leaflets on the switching process between widow’s pension and state retirement pension. [155752]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The switching process between widow’s pension and state pension is covered in three leaflets:


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Unemployment Benefits

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress is being made on reducing the complexity of benefits acting as a barrier to work. [156116]

Mr. Plaskitt: We are committed to removing any barriers to the smooth transition from benefits to work.

We are determined to make work pay and we have increased the minimum income that people can expect on moving into work, thereby removing barriers and improving financial incentives to work.

Winter Fuel Payments

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria are used by the Pensions Service to dispatch claim forms for winter fuel allowance to people who will be aged 60 by the end of the qualifying week. [156658]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Each year the Pension Service dispatch winter fuel claim forms to customers using the following criteria:


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Female customers who are identified as already being in receipt of state pension are automatically entitled to a winter fuel payment and do not need to claim.

Women's National Commission: Information Officers

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many press officers are employed by the Women's National Commission. [154657]

Barbara Follett: No press officers are employed by the Women's National Commission.

Work Opportunities: Disabled People

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve work opportunities for disabled people. [156114]

Mrs. McGuire: We have a range of programmes designed to provide help to people with disabilities and in the year to April 2007 these programmes supported more than 50,000 people to get into or retain employment.

We are currently reviewing our employment services for disabled people and intend to consult on our proposals later in the year.


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Written Answers to Questions

Monday 8 October 2007

Solicitor-General

Crown Prosecution Service: Information Officers

Mr. Spring: To ask the Solicitor-General how many press officers are employed by the Crown Prosecution Service. [154139]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service employs seven press officers at its headquarters. These consist of: four information officers; two senior information officers; and one chief press officer.


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