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18 Feb 2008 : Column 252W—continued



18 Feb 2008 : Column 253W

18 Feb 2008 : Column 254W
Projected total population of state pensionable age, England and Wales, 2008 to 2031
Persons Total Single, widowed, divorced or separated (not cohabiting) Married or cohabiting
million million percentage million percentage

2008

10.5

4.3

41

6.2

59

2009

10.7

4.4

41

6.3

59

2010

10.8

4.4

41

6.4

59

2011

10.8

4.4

41

6.4

59

2012

10.9

4.4

41

6.5

59

2013

11.0

4.5

41

6.5

59

2014

11.0

4.5

41

6.5

59

2015

11.0

4.5

41

6.5

59

2016

11.1

4.5

41

6.5

59

2017

11.1

4.5

41

6.5

59

2018

11.1

4.6

41

6.5

59

2019

11.1

4.6

41

6.5

59

2020

11.1

4.6

42

6.5

58

2021

11.3

4.7

42

6.6

58

2022

11.5

4.8

42

6.7

58

2023

11.7

4.9

42

6.8

58

2024

11.8

5.0

42

6.8

58

2025

11.7

5.0

43

6.7

57

2026

11.6

5.0

43

6.6

57

2027

11.8

5.1

43

6.7

57

2028

12.1

5.3

44

6.8

56

2029

12.3

5.4

44

6.9

56

2030

12.6

5.5

44

7.1

56

2031

12.8

5.6

44

7.2

56

Note: Totals may not add due to founding. Source: 2003-based marital status projections, Government Actuary's Department.

Pensioners: Hendon

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in (a) Hendon and (b) the UK received (i) pension credit and (ii) pension guarantee credit in the latest period for which figures are available; and in each case, what the average amount received each week was. [177497]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: In Hendon 4,360 households receive pension credit with an average award of £73.63, of which 2,410 households receive guarantee credit only with an average award of £102.65 and 1,450 households receive both guarantee credit and savings credit with an average award of £46.67, as at August 2007.

In Great Britain 2,734,530 households receive pension credit with an average award of £50.29, of which 811,260 households receive guarantee credit only with an average award of £83.69 and 1,326,130 households receive both guarantee credit and savings credit with an average award of £46.50, as at August 2007.

In Northern Ireland Pension Credit administration is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Pensions Service and the Disability and Carers Directorate

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) families of disabled children and (b) disabled people of working age realise benefits from the proposed merger of the Pensions Service and the Disability and Carers Directorate of his Department. [184135]

Mrs. McGuire: Matters in respect of the Disability and Carers Service fall within the responsibility of the Acting Chief Executive of the Agency, Mrs. Vivien Hopkins. She will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Vivien Hopkins, dated 18 February 2008:

Pensions: Anniversaries

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to mark the centenary of the introduction of the old age pension in the UK. [185448]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The introduction of the first state pension as an alternative to the Poor Law is something to be celebrated.

We plan to mark the centenary of the introduction of the state pension as a key element of the celebrations around the second UK Older People’s Day in October 2008.

Reinstatement of Deficiency Notices Programme

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a specimen copy of the letter sent by his Department in 2004-05 to women over pension age as part of the Reinstatement of Deficiency Notices Programme. [170570]

Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 3 December 2007]: The information has been placed in the Library.

Shaw Trust

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value was of the Provider Led Pathways to Work contract awarded to the Shaw Trust in Hampshire. [182930]


18 Feb 2008 : Column 255W

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 28 January 2008]: The Shaw Trust were awarded a phase 2 Provider Led Pathways to Work contract for the Hampshire and Isle of Wright Jobcentre Plus district, which is worth a total indicative contract value of £18,260,000.

The Provider Led Pathways to Work contracts were let with the expectation of a certain contract value. However, actual contract expenditure may be greater or less than that expected value, dependent on customer volumes and the provider performance levels achieved.

Social Fund

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the Secretary of State will respond to the social fund review; and if he will make a statement. [183139]

Mr. Plaskitt: The discretionary social fund plays an important role in helping vulnerable people meet the costs of large items of expenditure; in 2006-07 over 2.6 million awards were made.

Operational aspects of the scheme are kept under review to meet our aims of improving delivery and effectiveness. We are also considering longer term reform of the budgeting loans scheme in the context of the Government’s wider financial inclusion strategy.

The Government’s financial inclusion action plan for 2008 to 2011 announced plans to conduct a feasibility study to look into whether the private and third sectors could be brought into partnership with the Government in delivering a reformed social fund budgeting loans scheme.

Social Security Benefits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what pilots his Department and Jobcentre Plus have carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of online access to better off calculations; [181259]

(2) when better off calculations will be made available online; [181260]

(3) what training Jobcentre Plus staff will be given of the use of the online better off calculations software. [181261]

Mrs. McGuire: The “My DWP” project is delivering the first stage of a secure customer account on the internet, it will be accessible via the Directgov website. The initial release in spring 2008 will focus on customer inquiries and establishing the IT platform to enable further releases to follow as the DWP Change programme progresses. The next release planned for June will include online access to better off calculations.

To aid the design of the better off calculator, a cross section of citizens, ranging from jobseekers to pensioners were involved in the early customer engagement workshops during July 2007. Their feedback has been invaluable in informing the overall design. We continue our dialogue with our customers and front line staff to ensure that the new service will meet their needs.


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