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22 Feb 2008 : Column 1114W—continued

22 Feb 2008 : Column 1115W

22 Feb 2008 : Column 1116W

Thousand
	South-east	South-west	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Total
Lone fathers
1997	19	10	7	10	3	146
1998	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
1999	18	14	6	12	5	157
2000	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2001	17	13	11	18	4	164
2002	13	14	8	15	3	164
2003	20	15	8	13	6	171
2004	22	17	8	14	2	170
2005	22	15	10	13	4	164
2006	24	11	12	12	4	156
2007	19	13	8	18	3	156
Lone mothers
1997	152	90	81	132	45	1,452
1998	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
1999	154	103	96	147	47	1,579
2000	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2001	168	104	90	150	49	1,586
2002	180	104	87	142	53	1,646
2003	178	101	82	148	54	1,633
2004	171	108	98	159	60	1,678
2005	170	114	80	164	56	1,691
2006	176	107	96	153	48	1,673
2007	185	113	92	141	48	1,692
All lone parents
1997	171	101	88	142	47	1,598
1998	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
1999	171	117	102	160	53	1,736
2000	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2001	184	117	101	168	53	1,750
2002	193	119	94	157	56	1,809
2003	198	116	90	161	60	1,804
2004	194	125	106	174	62	1,848
2005	192	129	90	176	60	1,856
2006	200	118	108	164	52	1,829
2007	204	126	100	159	51	1,848
n/a = comparable estimates for 1998 and 2000 are not currently available (1) Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59 (2) Dependent children are those aged under 16 and those aged or 16-18 who are never-married and in full-time education Notes: 1. As with any sample survey, estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to a margin or uncertainty. 2. Estimates are weighted to the population estimates published by ONS in February and March 2003. Source: LFS Household datasets

National Insurance Fund

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage increase in the basic state pension could be paid in the years from 2009-10 to 2012-13 by using the national insurance fund's excess of receipts over payments projected by the acting Government Actuary for that period. [185406]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.

The NIF is not just for state pension expenditure but for other contributory benefits such as incapacity benefit and contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance.

National insurance contributions and associated social security benefits operate within the Government’s fiscal rules designed to ensure sound public finances and when there is a surplus it is invested in public services. Any surplus of NICs over social security benefits in any one year (the NIF surplus) is not therefore an extra resource available to spend.

The NIF is maintained under the control and management of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Quality of Life

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what definition of quality of life he uses. [187626]

22 Feb 2008 : Column 1117W

Jane Kennedy: Productivity and employment are the key determinants of growth and therefore of living standards. However, a large volume are of other data also important indicators for a broader measure of quality of life, such as those on crime, working hours, social capital, social demography and health.

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