Pensioners (Hansard, 27 May 2004)

§ Mr. Peter Duncan
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Scotland receive council tax benefit. [176492]

§ Mr. Pond
As at May 2002, there were 284,000 pensioner households receiving council tax benefit in Scotland, including 340,000 beneficiaries aged 60 or over.
Notes:
1. Pensioner households are defined as benefit units (which may be a single person or a couple) where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 or over.
2. Beneficiaries are defined as claimants and partners who are aged 60 or over.
3. The figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
4. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
5. Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
Source:
Housing benefit and council tax benefit annual summary statistics, May 2002.

§ Mr. Flight
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of over-payments to pensioners in each year since 1997. [175753]
1809W

§ Malcolm Wicks
The information is in the table.

Cost of benefit overpayments to pensioners

Volume Value (£)

1999–2000 111,599 26,074,886

2000–01 140,795 42,333,932

2001–02 201,260 87,619,329

2002–03 156,189 58,192,614

2003–04 149,554 51,428,186

Notes:

1. Records are not available prior to 1999–2000.

2. Data for 1999–2000 and 2000–01 is based on overpayments of Attendance Allowance and Retirement Pension.

3. From 2001, data includes Income Support paid to claimants over the age of 65.

4. From 2003, overpayments of Pension Credit are included.

Source:

Central Debt Management System

§ Mr. Flight
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what procedures are in place to enable pensioners who have been over-paid to pay sums back to the Department. [175754]

§ Malcolm Wicks
There are various procedures in place to enable pensioners who have been overpaid to repay sums to the Department. The method of repayment will depend on the particular circumstances of the case; our aim being to recover the money in a cost effective manner without causing unnecessary hardship to the customer.
Customers are notified of an overpayment and given one calendar month to pay the amount in full or to arrange payment by instalment. The notification includes full details of how to repay, how to appeal and how to get further help and advice.
Where the customer is not able to repay the amount in a single lump sum, payment by instalments can be negotiated. As the majority of pensioners receive payments from the Department, the preferred method of recovery by instalments is through direct deduction from their entitlement.
Both lump sum and instalment payments can also be made by Cheque, Postal Order, Girobank, Transcash, Direct Debit, Switch or Delta.

Cost of benefit overpayments to pensioners
	Volume	Value (£)
1999–2000	111,599	26,074,886
2000–01	140,795	42,333,932
2001–02	201,260	87,619,329
2002–03	156,189	58,192,614
2003–04	149,554	51,428,186
Notes:
1. Records are not available prior to 1999–2000.
2. Data for 1999–2000 and 2000–01 is based on overpayments of Attendance Allowance and Retirement Pension.
3. From 2001, data includes Income Support paid to claimants over the age of 65.
4. From 2003, overpayments of Pension Credit are included.
Source:
Central Debt Management System