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28 Mar 2003 : Column 440W—continued
Pension Credit
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 10 March 2003, Official Report, column 94W, on the state pension, what assumptions on take up of the pension credit he made in coming to his answer; what other assumptions not listed in the footnotes were made for the purpose of arriving at his answer; and if he will make a statement. [103816]
Mr. McCartney: In arriving at the answer previously given, the minimum income guarantee was assumed to remain in place at recent take-up rates; and the saving from not introducing pension credit was assumed to be worth £2 billion in its first full year, based on a planning assumption of around 70 per cent. take-up by case load.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures the Department has taken to publicise the pension credit. [105199]
Mr. McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to all MPs on 17 March outlining how we are planning to ensure Pension Credit take-on is completed successfully. To support the take-on of Pension Credit a marketing campaign has been developed that seeks to address the specific needs of pensioners and those who support them such as family and friends.
The core of the campaign involves contacting all pensioner households by direct mail and inviting them to make their applications by telephone. In this way we can support and complete the application form for them. The Pension Service will start writing to pensioner households to invite applications in April 2003 and plans to complete this activity in June 2004. This systematic approach will be supported by regional and national advertising around the launch of Pension Credit in October when it becomes payable.
By working with local partners the Pension Service will be able to help vulnerable pensioners or those who need to overcome barriers that might prevent them from applying.
To ensure pensioners do not lose out, a 12 month backdating provision will exist until October 2004. This will allow applications to be backdated to October 2003 where entitlement exists.
Pensions
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) percentage and (b) number of newly retired pensioners receive their pension by order book, broken down by nation and region. [105614]
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Malcolm Wicks: The percentage and number of newly retired pensioners receiving their pension by order book as at 25 January 2003, and split between nation and region is shown in the following table.
The figures reflect those pensioners who have retired in the last 12 months and are aged 60 (women) and 65 (men). There are also some pensioners who have also recently retired who are older than the minimum retirement age, but have deferred their retirement. We are unable to identify these people.
| Pensioners aged 60/65 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nation/Region | Paid by OB | Percentage |
| North East | 8,500 | 44.7 |
| North West | 18,927 | 36.1 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 13,659 | 35.5 |
| East Midlands | 10,697 | 31.9 |
| West Midlands | 14,327 | 33.8 |
| East of England | 10,395 | 23.5 |
| London | 9,081 | 23.4 |
| South East | 12,834 | 20.4 |
| South West | 11,531 | 27.2 |
| England | 109,951 | 29.38 |
| Wales | 10,768 | 45.2 |
| Scotland | 14,997 | 37.6 |
| GB Total | 135,716 | 31.0 |
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) percentage and (b) number of pensioners receive their state pension by order book, broken down by (i) region and (ii) constituency. [105616]
Malcolm Wicks: The percentage and number of pensioners receiving their pension by order book as at 25 January 2003, and split between region and constituency has been placed in the Library.
Rent Levels
Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the change has been in average (a) single room rent and (b) younger persons rent in Scotland, England and Wales since March 2002. [100752]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available.
Sure Start Maternity Grants
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Sure Start maternity grants of the full amount have been awarded since 16 June 2002, broken down by region. [105044]
Maria Eagle: Since the capital limits for Social Fund Sure Start Maternity Grants were abolished on 8 October 2001, all new awards have been for the full amount.
The amount of the Sure Start Maternity Grant was increased from 300 to 500 for applications made on or after 1 April 2002, where the expected date of confinement or date of birth or adoption of the child(ren), or of a parental order was 16 June 2002 or later.
The table shows the numbers of awards made in England, Scotland and Wales between 1 April 2002, the prescribed date for claiming the higher rate, and 31 May
28 Mar 2003 : Column 442W
2002, followed by awards made between 1 June 2002 and 28 February 2003. The figures will include some awards of 300 for children born or adopted before 16 June. They will also include some cases where an award of £300 was originally awarded because a child was due on or before 15 June but born after that date. Applicants were able to claim an extra £200 to represent the difference between the lower and higher rates.
| Period | England | Scotland | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2002 to 31 May 2002 | 33,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 |
| 1 June 2002 to 28 February 2003 | 150,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 |
| Total | 184,000 | 18,000 | 13,000 |
Notes:1. Data are not available by Government Office Region.2. Data are only available for whole months.3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and may not sum due to the rounding.Source:
DWP Social Fund Policy Budget Management Information System
Two Ticks Symbol (Buckingham)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) private companies, (b) charitable and voluntary and (c) public sector organisations in the Buckingham constituency have adopted the two ticks symbol. [104688]
Maria Eagle: The available information is in the following table.
| Local employer | 47 |
| Council or local authority | 10 |
| Voluntary organisation or registered charity | 17 |
| Major or national organisation | 8 |
| Government Department | 1 |
| Total | 83 |
Note:
Information is collected by area of disability service provision and is not available broken down by constituency. Figures in the table relate to the local disability service area, "Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire" which includes the constituency of Buckingham.
Source:
Disability Symbol database
Violence at Work
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many instances of work-related violence there were in (a) Jarrow Constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) North East and (d) UK in each year since 1997. [103561]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The number of instances of work-related violence reported to the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities under the Reporting of Injuries, Dangerous Diseases and Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 for South Tyneside, the North East and Great Britain, since 1997 is set out as follows. Figures are not available for Jarrow as the constituency is not identifiable in HSE and local authority systems.
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| Location/year | Fatal | Major | Over three days(8) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | ||||
| 1996–97 | — | 21 | 115 | 136 |
| 1997–98 | — | 21 | 103 | 124 |
| 1998–99 | — | 18 | 157 | 175 |
| 1999–2000 | — | 33 | 213 | 246 |
| 2000–01 | — | 40 | 209 | 249 |
| 2001–02(9) | — | 37 | 218 | 255 |
| South Tyneside | ||||
| 1996–97 | — | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 1997–98 | — | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 1998–99 | — | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| 1999–2000 | — | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| 2000–01 | — | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 2001–02(9) | — | — | 7 | 7 |
| Great Britain | ||||
| 1996–97 | 2 | 712 | 4,131 | 4,845 |
| 1997–98 | — | 682 | 4,422 | 5,104 |
| 1998–99 | 1 | 644 | 4,662 | 5,307 |
| 1999–2000 | — | 719 | 5,333 | 6,052 |
| 2000–01 | 3 | 823 | 5,635 | 6,461 |
| 2001–02(9) | 4 | 779 | 5,116 | 5,899 |
(8) These incidents result in an absence from work of more than three days
(9) Provisional
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