Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the numbers in Wales of(a) single pensioners and (b) married couple pensioners (i) in 1980 and (ii) at the latest available date. [92642]
§ Mr. TimmsInformation is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
State retirement pensions are paid to individuals. Category A pension is payable on a person's own contribution record and Category B pension is paid to a married woman (or a widow) on her husband's insurance record. It is not possible to identify someone's marital status from the category of pension.
676W2. Expenditure figures have been rounded to nearest £10 million
Source:
The above figures are consistent with those published in the Departmental Report 1999
Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the amounts his Department and its agencies spends on(a) running costs, (b) wage costs and (c) other administrative costs for those facilities and staff based in Wales, indicating the headquarters administration costs and the total costs for the branch network. [92640]
§ Mr. TimmsDSS accounts for its administrative costs operationally (by Agency and Business Unit). It does not maintain accounting records by geographical territory and it is therefore not possible to provide reliable expenditure information covering all Departmental operations in the format requested. Information for the Benefits Agency's operations in Wales is provided in the table.
Number of people in receipt of retirement pensions in Wales November 1980 and March 1999 November 1980 March 1999 Men and women 455,000 561,000 Men 160,000 206,000 Women 295,000 355,000 Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Figures for November 1980 exclude Graduate Pension only cases.
Source:
November 1980—Pensions Computer System, 10 per cent. sample of 'live' cases.
March 1999—Pensions Strategy Computer System (PSCS), 5 per cent. sample of 'live' cases.