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10 Mar 2009 : Column 274W—continued
Pensioners: Personal Savings
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what calculations his Department has used in deciding to attribute £1 a week as income for every £500 in savings over £6,000 when calculating the pension credit; [257377]
(2) if during the economic downturn he will temporarily abandon the practice of attributing £1 a week as income for every £500 in savings over £6,000 when calculating the pension credit; [257378]
(3) what representations he has received on the practice of attributing £1 a week as income for every £500 in savings over £6,000 when calculating pension credit. [257379]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The formula for calculating the amount of notional income assumed from capital in pension credit, known as tariff income, is not intended to represent any rate of return that could be obtained from investing capital. It provides a simple method of calculating the weekly contribution that people with capital in excess of the level of the disregard are expected to make from their resources to help meet their normal living costs.
In pension credit the first £6,000 of capital is fully disregarded (£10,000 for those in care homes). For each £500 (or part of £500) above this level we assume notional income at a rate of £1.
The vast majority of pensioners who are eligible for pension credit have savings below the level of the disregard and do not have any tariff income applied.
When income support was introduced in 1988 the rate of tariff income as set out in the legislation was £1 for every £250. With the introduction of pension credit we halved this rate to £1 for every £500, and also abolished the upper capital limit—giving more people access to support.
Pension credit, through the savings credit, is designed to specifically reward pensioners with low or modest second pensions or savings. Notional income from capital is also qualifying income for the savings credit.
As there is no link with actual market rates, the tariff income rates within the income related benefits are not adjusted when interest rates change.
The tariff income levels are kept under continual review but they can only be increased when priorities and resources allow.
Pensions: Insolvency
Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government taking a majority stake in a company in order to prevent it from bankruptcy would be considered an insolvency event for the purpose of the Pension Protection Fund. [260979]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 5 March 2009]: No. For the purposes of the Pension Protection Fund, an insolvency event occurs if it is an event as described within the Pensions Act 2004. Section 121 of that Act sets out when an insolvency event occurs in relation to an individual, a company or a partnership. For a company, an insolvency event may, for example, occur when an administrative receiver is appointed or the company enters administration under the provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986. It would not be an insolvency event for the Government to take a majority stake in a company.
Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons his Department does not provide (a) an income support, (b) an employment support allowance, (c) an incapacity benefit, (d) a winter fuel allowance and (e) a jobseeker's allowance hotline for hon. Members. [253733]
Mr. McNulty: Jobcentre Plus district managers should be in regular contact with their local MPs in order to offer the personal assistance they need. Jobcentre Plus district managers have been asked to write to their MPs to reinforce this offer of help. Any hon. Member with a query about any benefits should contact the Jobcentre Plus district manager who has overall responsibility for the service to local residents. This will give hon. Members effective support for a range of different queries.
The Pension, Disability and Carers Service provide a dedicated telephone service for the express use of Members of Parliament who require information on pensioner or disability and carer-related matters.
Social Security Benefits: Wimbledon
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants for (a) jobseeker’s allowance, (b) housing benefit, (c) incapacity benefit and (d) income support there were resident in Wimbledon constituency in each of the last five years; and how many of these were claiming more than one benefit in each year. [255954]
Mr. McNulty: The available information is in the following table.
Information on housing benefit is not available at parliamentary constituency level. Information on how many people were claiming more than one benefit is not available at constituency level.
| Total number of incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance, income support and jobseeker’s allowance claimants in Wimbledon parliamentary constituency over the past five years | |||
| As at August each year | Income support | Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance | Jobseeker’s allowance |
| Notes: 1. Data are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Data are published at https://www.nomisweb.co.uk. 3. Figures exclude clerical cases. Sources: 1. Jobseeker’s allowance—100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems. 2. Income support and incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance—The Department for Work and Pensions information directorate: 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | |||
Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people entitled to a winter fuel payment in West Chelmsford constituency are yet to receive their payment from the last round of applications. [261833]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available.
Of the 12 million winter fuel payments made every year, the vast majority, over 95 per cent., are made automatically before Christmas based on information already held in DWP records. In these cases individuals do not need to make a claim.
However, there is a small group of people who may qualify for a winter fuel payment who need to make a claim. This is usually because they are not in receipt of a state pension or other benefit administered by the DWP. Claims for winter 2008-09 must be received by 30 March 2009. Payments are made in stages between November 2008 and May 2009 depending on when the application and supporting information is received.
In winter 2006-07, the last year for which figures are available, 20,330 people in the West Chelmsford Constituency received a winter fuel payment. We expect to make a similar number of payments this year.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Antisocial Behaviour
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions of defendants aged between 10 and 17 years there were for being drunk and disorderly in each police force area in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008. [256739]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against, found guilty, cautioned and issued with a penalty notice for disorder for drunk and disorderly behaviour in England and Wales for each year from 2005 to 2007, broken down by age, sex and police force area can be found in the tables placed in the House Library.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals aged over 65 years resident in each (a) London borough and (b) Government Office region were arrested or issued with a penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly in the last five years. [261526]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The numbers of persons aged 65 years and over issued with a penalty notice for disorder (PND) for being drunk and disorderly from 2004, when the scheme was implemented in all 43 police forces in England and Wales, to 2007 (latest available) are given in the table by Government office region.
PND data are collected centrally at police force area level; data for the London boroughs are not available. PND data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally. The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery.
The alcohol-related offences presented in the table are not notifiable offences and do not form part of the arrests collection.
| Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to persons aged 65 and over for being drunk and disorderly( 1) , by Government office region, from 2004 - 07 | ||||
| Region | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| (1) Data include the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Being found drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises—Licensing Act 1872, section 12; Being guilty while drunk of disorderly behaviour—Criminal Justice Act 1967, section 91. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit | ||||
Anabolic Steroids
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) cautioned and (b) convicted of supplying anabolic steroids in each of the last five years; and how many of those convicted were subsequently given the maximum possible sentence. [261518]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information provided by the Ministry of Justice on the number of persons cautioned or found guilty at all courts for supplying anabolic steroids in England and Wales from 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is given in the table. Of those persons convicted none received the maximum sentence.
Cautions and court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
| N umber of persons cautioned or found guilty at all courts for supplying anabolic steroids( 1) , England and Wales, 2003-07( 2,3) | ||
| Number cautioned | Number found guilty | |
| (1) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 s.4(3): Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug—Anabolic Steroids. (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis unit | ||
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