Dr. Tony WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list all those task forces and policy reviews with external members established by his Department since May 1997 which have set up(a) sub-groups, (b) working parties and (c) other subsidiary committees; [79257]
(2) if he will list for all task forces and policy reviews with external members established by his Department since May 1997 (a) their dates of establishment, (b) those which have issued final reports and their dates of publication, (c) those which have been terminated and their dates of termination and (d) for those bodies still in existence, expected reporting and termination dates. [79280]
§ Mr. TimmsThe information is in the table.
837W
DSS reviews (with external members) established since May 1997 Title Date established Working party Sub-group Other subsidiary committee Final report published Expected reports Terminated date Expected termination date Housing Benefit Simplification and Improvement project (HB SIP) September 1998 Yes—A working group, together with associated sub-groups, was established at official level with representatives from the local authority associations to explore ways of simplifying and improving the delivery of Housing Benefit No No, feeding into the Government's continuing work on the future of Housing Benefit n/a n/a n/a The Pensions education Working Group (PEWG) September 1997 Yes June 1998. Currently helping to implement it's recommendations n/a n/a Second half of 1999 The Pension Provision Group (PPG) Summer 1997 PPG still in existence to look at self-employed— pension rights, Pension provision— flexible labour market and independent pensions organisation Report—We All Need Pensions— the Prospectus for pension provision Published June 1998. Any decision on possible publication will be taken individually on the following tasks upon completion: n/a End 1999 Response to the Pensions Green paper published March 1999 Position of the self-employed and how their pension rights might be improved The Pension Provision Group cont'd The impact on pension provision of an increasingly flexible labour market. Proposals for an independent pensions organisation — End 1999