To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many overpayments of pension tax credits have been made to date; what the value is of these overpayments; and what the average debt incurred is by recipients of such overpayments. (110120)

Since the introduction of pension credit in 2003, up to 31 October 2006, 160,600 overpayments of pension credit have been identified and recorded on systems. They represent a total of £56.07 million of overpayments. The average of each debt is approximately £350.

During 2005-06, the pension credit overpayments identified and recorded on systems represented 0.21 per cent. of the expenditure on pension credit in that year.

In addition, a further 29,600 official error and small overpayments were identified although not formally recorded on systems. Their value was estimated at £4.9 million.