20 Oct 2003 : Column 353W
1. Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on (a) the proposed method of payment of state benefit for pensioners who cannot access a bank account and (b) the timetable for the receipt of such benefit after 2005. [132601]
Mr. Andrew Smith: While over 90 per cent. of pensioners have bank or building society accounts, and nearly half of all pensioners already choose to be paid by Direct Payment, we of course recognise that there will be some whom we will not be able to pay in this way.
We are presently consulting groups such as Age Concern, Help the Aged and the National Pensioners Convention about paying such pensioners by cheque.
We plan to have this service in place from October next year.
16. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he next expects to meet staff representatives to discuss job losses in departmental offices in East Anglia. [132616]
Mr. Browne: Jobcentre Plus and the Pensions Service are modernising the service we provide to our customers. Staff movement between different roles is an ongoing feature of the development of these-new services. Ministerial colleagues and I meet the Department's trade union representatives from time to time. Managers and union representatives at all levels meet routinely to discuss staffing plans.
17. Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on saving for retirement. [132617]
Malcolm Wicks: Our aim is to help people choose how they plan for retirement, how much they save and how long they keep working. Our immediate priority was to tackle pensioner poverty and we have, through the Pension Credit, both increased the amount individuals receive and also rewarded those who have saved. Through our Green Paper and Action on Occupational Pensions proposals we have sought to increase security, promote flexibility of provision and reinvigorate the pensions partnership. We want to give individuals real choices about the savings decisions they take through the provision of the right information and the right products—this we are doing through our informed choice programme and proposed suite of stakeholder
20 Oct 2003 : Column 354W
products, as proposed in the Sandler review. The Government's overall objective is to promote secure and sustainable pensions provision for individuals.
18. Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the take-up of stakeholder pensions. [132618]
Mr. Andrew Smith: Over one-and-a-half million stakeholder pensions have been sold since their introduction in April 2001; over half a million in the last 12 months for which figures are available. This is an encouraging start, and a sign of confidence in the product.
19. Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on Government plans to reform state pensions. [132619]
Malcolm Wicks: We have done much to improve the State Pension. The introduction of State Second Pension focuses help on those with low to moderate earnings, and on qualifying carers and long term-disabled people who have broken work records.
We have increased the basic State Pension by more than the RPI for the last three years. We have also guaranteed to increase the basic State Pension in future years by 2.5 per cent. or the increase in the September Retail Prices Index whichever is the higher.
In addition, the new Pension Credit is designed to ensure that pensioners benefit from their savings. These initiatives will help provide greater security for tomorrow's pensioners.
We will continue to look at sensible and affordable ways of improving the State Pension, such as giving a better deal to people who defer their State Pension.
20. Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners the Government estimates will be receiving pension credit by 2006. [132620]
Malcolm Wicks: We are the first Government ever to set a take up target for any benefit and we aim to have at least 3 million pensioner households receiving Pension Credit by 2006.
However, we want every pensioner to take up their entitlement. We have already written to 1.6 million pension households to tell them about Pension Credit and will be writing to the remainder by June 2004. In addition we are running a major advertising campaign on TV and in the press to familiarise, pensioners, their families and friends with Pension Credit and to encourage them to apply.
22. Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Pension Credit. [132623]
Malcolm Wicks: Around 1.9 million pensioner households on our systems are already being paid Pension Credit. This represents over two million
20 Oct 2003 : Column 355W
individuals. Of the awards made, 1.15 million pension households (over 1.3 million pensioners) will get more than they would have before. We are contacting every pensioner household, and want all those who may be entitled, to take up Pension Credit.
Anyone who applies by October 2004 will be able to receive payment from the start of the scheme or the first date they are entitled.
Around half of all households are eligible for Pension Credit and stand to gain on average £400 a year (or around £7 a week).
23. Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners are entitled to Pension Credit in Waveney constituency. [132624]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. However, an estimated 300,000 pensioner households are eligible for Pension Credit in the Eastern region.
21. Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the latest position regarding a constituent, Mr. Douglas Gowan. [132622]
Maria Eagle: I wrote to the hon. Gentleman on 10 October 2003 as agreed at the Adjournment debate of 9 September 2003.
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the inter-relationship between the Child Support Agency and the benefits system. [132621]
Mr. Pond: The Child Support Agency and Jobcentre Plus work closely together to provide customers with the best possible service.
Jobcentre Plus staff gather information on behalf of the Child Support Agency to ascertain either the details of the non-resident parent or the reasons why a parent with care on benefit does not wish to apply for child support. In the latter case, Jobcentre Plus staff also decide whether she has good cause.
Jobcentre Plus also collect maintenance by making deductions from non-resident parents' benefit payments.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the total cost was of special advisers to the Office of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury in financial year 2002–03, broken down by (a) salary and related expenses and (b) other costs. [131770]
Mr. Alexander: The numbers of Special Advisers in each pay band by department and total salary costs were set out in the answer provided by the Prime Minister on 16 July 2003, Official Report, column 328W. Other costs
20 Oct 2003 : Column 356W
cannot be separately identified from the running costs of the office as a whole without incurring disproportionate cost.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many occasions in financial year 2002–03 the special advisers to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury travelled abroad in an official capacity; which places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [131771]
Mr. Alexander: The special advisers to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury did not undertake any overseas travel in an official capacity in 2002–03.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Questions directed to him remain unanswered. [130767]
Mr. Alexander: At 15 October four Parliamentary Questions remained unanswered.
Mr. Marshall-Andrews: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) of 17 March 2003, Official Report, column 515W, on Iraq, to what extent, in concluding that it was plain that Iraq had failed to comply with Resolution 1441, the Attorney-General relied upon facts and assertions contained in the Government dossier published in January as material to his conclusion and to the opinion he gave as to the authority to use force, specifying which such facts and assertions were so relied upon. [131002]
The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General did not rely at all on the Government dossier published on 30 January in reaching the conclusion that Iraq had failed to comply with resolution 1441 and in stating his view that a legal basis for the use of force existed in the combined effect of UN Security Council resolutions 678, 687 and 1441. However, it was material to that conclusion that there was intelligence evidence that the Iraqi authorities had intimidated scientists which UNMOVIC wished to interview; that rooms designated for such interviews had been bugged; and that some potential interviewees had been kept away from UNMOVIC by the Iraqi authorities and that there was evidence that Iraqi scientists had been intimidated into refusing interviews with UNMOVIC outside Iraq. These points were also covered in the section on interviews in chapter one of the dossier.
Mr. Marshall-Andrews: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) of 17 March 2003, Official Report, column 515W, on Iraq, whether, in concluding that it was plain that Iraq had failed to comply with Resolution 1441, the Attorney-General relied upon the facts and assertions contained in Chapter 3 paragraphs (a) two to five, (b) six to seven, (c) eight to 11, (d) 12 to 13, (e) 14,
20 Oct 2003 : Column 357W
(f) 15, (g) 16, (h) 18 to 23 and (i) 24 to 32 of the Government dossier published in September 2002 as material to his conclusion and to the opinion he gave as to the authority to use force. [131003]
The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General did not rely upon any facts or assertions contained in the Government dossier published in September 2002 as material to his conclusion set out in his statement of 17 March that Iraq had failed to comply with resolution 1441 and that a legal base for the use of force existed in the combined effect of UN Security Council resolutions 678, 687 and 1441.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |