§ 3. Mr. Nick St. Aubyn (Guildford)If he will make a statement on the number of pensioners awaiting computation of their full pension entitlement. [115865]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Mr. Jeff Rooker)As I said on 7 February, there were then about 83,000 people still to have their benefits reviewed following the NIRS2 problems. Some 17,000 of these have now been cleared, but the total number outstanding has increased to 88,000 as a result of further reviews produced from NIRS2 for existing awards to be revised and the continuing need to carry out clerical calculations for some new awards. So far, 48,000 claims have been cleared clerically and there are about 13,000 currently awaiting action. However, as I said in February, we still anticipate that all payments will be fully brought up to date before the end of the year.
§ Mr. St. AubynWe are all holding our breath to see whether the Minister can deliver on that commitment, given that it is now 18 months since the Secretary of State told us that the matter would be cleared up within a matter of weeks. I have a constituent, who wrote to me only this week, who retired as head teacher of a special school last summer and, nine months later, is still waiting to have her pension entitlement sorted out.
Is it not a disgrace that a Government cannot even authorise that the Benefits Agency pay pensioners their projected benefits, which they were told that they could expect when they retired, until such time as the exact figure can be sorted out?
§ Mr. RookerConservative Members can say all the hear, hears they like. The hon. Gentleman has raised the matter several times, as have other hon. Members, and he is quite right to do so, but the answer is the same. We are reliant upon a computerised system. That new product was purchased on the cheap by the previous Government. It does not do the job that it was intended to do—hence the delay, and hence so far we have paid out £2.5 million in compensation for late payment of people's pensions.