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3 Feb 2009 : Column 1012W—continued
Crisis Loans
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were subject to (a) a county court claim by his Department and (b) a county court judgement as a result of such a claim for defaulting on repayments of a (i) crisis loan and (ii) budget loan in each year since 1997; [249339]
(2) how many people have had items repossessed following default on repayments of (a) a crisis loan and (b) a budgeting loan in each year since 1997; [249341]
(3) in how many instances bailiffs have been used to recover repayments of (a) a crisis loan and (b) a budgeting loan in each year since 1997; [249343]
(4) how many bankruptcy orders have been issued following default on repayments of a (a) crisis loan and (b) budgeting loan in each year since 1997. [249345]
Kitty Ussher: Where a person is in receipt of benefit, recovery is by means of deductions from benefit only.
Court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.
The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.
The number of people subject to a county court claim by the Department for Work and Pensions for defaulting on Social Fund repayments is set out as follows. The information cannot be separated between Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans. No action has been taken to enforce recovery of outstanding loans through the courts since 2005-06.
| Number of court claims in social fund cases | |
| Number | |
| Note: Data prior to 2003-04 has been supplied by the courts. | |
As part of the Department’s programme to bring increased focus to the management and recovery of debt generally, the decision was made to transfer the management and recovery of social fund off-benefit cases to the Department’s specialist Debt Management unit. This commenced in 2005. Referring the outstanding social fund loans to Debt Management has enabled the use of their specialist skills in pursuing recovery from customers who are no longer in receipt of benefit.
This transfer of cases to Debt Management has already resulted in significant recoveries on loans from those no longer in receipt of benefit, without a need to refer for court enforcement.
Housing Benefit
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken to process a housing benefit claim was in each year since 1997. [253119]
Kitty Ussher: The available information is in the table:
| Average days to process housing benefit claims—2001-02 to 2007-08 | |
| Average days | |
| Notes: 1. Housing benefit claim processing times are measured in calendar days from the day a claim is received to the date a decision is made. 2. Claim processing performance data is supplied to DWP by local authorities and is un-audited. 3. Not all local authorities provide all four quarters worth of data. Where a local authority has not provided data in a particular quarter, the data they have provided is multiplied to cover the appropriate period; this is then used to calculate the national average. Source: Local authority management information returns to DWP | |
Pension Credit: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of pensioners in (a) Castle Point constituency, (b) Essex and (c) England claim pension credit. [249688]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 29 January 2009]: The answer is in the following table.
| Castle Point constituency | Essex | England | |
| Notes: 1. The number of households in receipt are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 3. Individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. 4. Pensioners have been defined as anyone aged 60 or over. 5. Percentages of pensioner population have been calculated using the ONS mid year population estimates (2007) for the age group 60 and over. 6. Percentages of pensioner population at constituency level have been calculated based on the ONS mid year population estimates (2006) at constituency level which are experimental data and therefore not part of the National Statistics. These experimental statistics are still under evaluation by ONS and should be interpreted with caution. The population estimates are published at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15095 Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data, Office for National Statistics | |||
Pension Disability and Carers Service: Standards
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions he has met with representatives of the Pension Service to discuss its performance; and if he will make a statement. [252767]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 29 January 2009]: Ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions meet regularly with colleagues from the Pension, Disability and Carers Service to discuss a range of matters.
Pensioners: North East
Mr. Kemp:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in each
constituency in the North East claimed pension credit in each year since its introduction. [250060]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is in the following table.
| Household recipients of pension credit in each constituency in the north-east, November 2003 to May 20 08 | ||||||
| Parliamentary constituency | November 2003 | May 2004 | May 2005 | May 2006 | May 2007 | May 2008 |
| Notes: 1. The number of households in receipt is rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data | ||||||
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