§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases have been recorded since April 2001 of employers'(a) failure to set up a record of when they were due to pay contributions to personal pension schemes and (b) failure to pay such contributions on time; how many cases have been completed; and how much has been raised in fines. [33719]
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§ Mr. McCartney[holding answer 6 February 2002]: The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) has received reports as follows:
- 71,117 voluntary reports of employers who have failed to set up a record of payment contributions
- 128,965 reports of late payments. Many of these reports will relate to the same employer.
The new arrangements for reporting late payment of contributions began in April 2001. Opra's prime objective is to educate employers about their new responsibilities. Only when that fails does Opra consider sanctions. To date, Opra has written to over 35,000 employers. Opra has identified 100 employers who appear to be in serious breach and these cases will be considered for sanctions.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list for(a) each age after 60 and (b) each sex the number claiming state basic retirement pension in the last year for which figures are available. [35576]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe information requested is not available. Such information as is available is set out in the table:
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Number of men and women receiving a basic state retirement pension at 31 March 2001, by single year age Thousand Age Female Male All 6,880.1 4,079.9 60 220.1 — 61 250.6 — 62 260.7 — 63 268.3 — 64 273.4 — 65 280.2 259.9 66 278.4 265.1 67 271.5 255.4 68 271.1 251.0 69 277.0 252.0 70 283.8 247.9 71 272.0 237.5 72 265.1 222.2 73 255.8 210.0 74 258.8 205.2 75 250.6 196.5 76 240.0 179.6 77 239.1 167.1 78 230.4 163.4 79 231.0 152.7 80 233.4 145.9 81 200.9 123.7 82 141.0 80.8 83 125.2 70.1 84 139.3 72.6 85 129.4 63.0 86 125.7 57.0 87 111.8 47.0 88 93.8 39.4 89 80.8 30.4 90 68.3 21.2 91 57.6 17.0 92 46.7 13.1 93 37.1 9.5 94 28.8 7.2 95 22.4 4.8 96 15.7 3.0 97 11.5 2.4
Number of men and women receiving a basic state retirement pension at 31 March 2001, by single year age Thousand Age Female Male 98 9.5 1.7 99 6.1 1.3 100+ 17.0 3.3 Note:
Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
Source:
Figures are taken from a 5 per cent. sample of the Pensions Strategy Computer System as at 31 March 2001.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many members of occupational pensions schemes were(a) contracted out and (b) contracted in to the state pension scheme in each of the last five years. [35574]
§ Mr. McCartneyInformation is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
1991 1995 Contracted out 9.7 9.0 Contracted in 1.0 1.3 Total 10.7 10.3 Note:
All numbers are in millions
Source:
Government Actuary's Department "Occupational Pension Schemes 1991 and 1995".
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his statement of 4 February 2002,Official Report, column 665, on pensions and benefits, if he will make a statement on his assessment of the reasons for the decline in the number of (a) defined benefit and (b) defined contribution occupational pension schemes since the mid 1960s. [35584]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe main factors contributing to the long-term decline in both the membership and number of occupational schemes are complex, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions told the House on 4 February 2002,Official Report, column 665. Because of that last year the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions asked Alan Pickering to conduct a wide-ranging review of the regulatory burden that is placed on pensions schemes. The review is due to report in the summer.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what publicity he plans in order to advise the general public of the implications of the equalisation of state retirement pension ages from 2010. [35573]
§ Mr. McCartneyChanges to the state pension age for women affect all women born after 5 April 1950, and the Government are committed to informing women about the changes.
The changes continue to be publicised as part of the Department for Work and Pensions' marketing campaign on pensions education for people of working age. Information is also included in relevant pensions leaflets (including a specific leaflet on pensions for women) and on the Department's website. The website also features an interactive calculator where women can type in their date 506W of birth to find out their state pension age and the date they will reach that. The Department's state pension forecast letters and the accompanying leaflet also show the recipient's state pension age and explain who is affected by the changes to the state pension age for women.