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26 Mar 2009 : Column 616W—continued
Pension Credit: Overpayments
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff Central of 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 41W, on pension credit: overpayments, how much was repaid through (a) voluntary repayment, (b) automatic deduction from benefit, (c) county court judgement, (d) the use of bailiffs, (e) bankruptcy orders, (f) repossession orders, (g) private debt collection companies and (h) another method of repayment in each month. [252993]
Kitty Ussher: The information requested in relation to the means of repayment is not available in all the categories requested.
Action taken through the courts to recover overpayments of pension credit is limited as it is not our policy to take enforcement action through the courts where the customer is in receipt of a benefit or a pension.
The only cases where such court action could arise is where recovery is sought from the estate of a deceased customer to recover an overpayment outstanding at death, or where an overpayment is identified after death following a check of probate records. Court action would only then be taken if it had not been possible to reach a voluntary arrangement.
Likewise, our private sector partners are not generally used to seek recovery from customers of pension age.
The available information is in the following table.
| Pension credit overpayment recovery by method of payment: 2007-08 | ||||||||||||
| £000 | ||||||||||||
| Apr | May | Jun | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | |
| 2008-09( 4) | ||||||
| £000 | ||||||
| Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | |
| (1) Payment through banks includes cases where payment received via Direct debit, Standing order, Debit card, Transcash etc. (2) Other includes cash payments and offsets against arrears. (3) Negative figures represent totals following accounting adjustments. (4) 2008-09 data is indicative only. | ||||||
Pensioners: Women
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which women's pension entitlement is affected by them taking time off work to care for children. [258453]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 2036W.
Remploy: Manpower
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees there have been in Remploy sectors (a) M1 and (b) X in each year since 2000. [261456]
Jonathan Shaw: The available information is in the following table.
| Remploy employees by sector | |||
| X Sector( 1) (Number of employees) | M1 Sector( 2) (Number of employees) | Total number( 3) of X Sector and M1 employees | |
| (1) X sector Remploy employees are senior managers and executive grades. (2) M1 sector Remploy employees are managers who are on the lower rung of the middle management ladder. (3) The number of managers in Remploy since 2000-01 reflects changes in the structure of the company over this period including the growth of Remploy Employment Services and the introduction of the five year modernisation plan announced in November 2007. Source: Remploy | |||
Remploy: Pay
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid in bonuses to the (a) senior management and (b) directors of Remploy in each year since 2000. [261450]
Jonathan Shaw: The bonus payments made are based on achievement of individual performance related targets. Future bonuses will be tied to critical success factors derived from the five year modernisation plan announced in November 2007. The increase in manager bonuses since 2005-06 reflects the significant growth of Remploy Employment Services, where the number of disabled people supported, into work including has trebled over the last three years.
The available information is detailed in the following table.
| Bonuses paid to Remploy senior management | |||
| £ | |||
| Managers | Directors/Executives | Total | |
| ( 1) Nil Source: Remploy | |||
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether any bonuses were paid to senior Remploy staff in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [261668]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 6 March 2009]: Under the terms of the Remploy bonus scheme a total of £110,600 was paid to Remploy senior staff in 2007-08.
Social Security Benefits: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average total benefit received per household was in (a) Castle Point and (b) Essex in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [267053]
Jonathan Shaw: The information is not available.
Social Security Benefits: Families
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many families received benefits in excess of £15,000 in (a) West Chelmsford, (b) Essex and (c) Greater London in each of the last five years. [261767]
Mr. McNulty: Figures are only available for the number of families in Greater London as sample sizes are too small to yield reliable results below a regional level.
It is estimated that the number of families in London which reported receiving benefits in excess of £15,000 per annum is 100,000 in each of the last five years. This represents less than 3 per cent. of all London families.
Although £15,000 per annum of support from the state sounds like quite a large amount, it is not that unusual to achieve this level of support. To illustrate, take a stylized example of a couple with two children, where neither parent is in work, which live in a flat with £150 per week rent and a £20 per week council tax bill. They would be eligible to £15,445 per annum in benefits, including housing benefit and council tax benefit. Benefit income after housing costs would be £4,951 income support/jobseeker's allowance and £1,630 child benefit, totaling £6,581 per annum.
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