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Child Benefit
20. Mr. Rees : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current percentage uptake of child benefit.
24. Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current percentage uptake of child benefit.
36. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current percentage uptake of child benefit.
62. Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current percentage uptake of child benefit.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Virtually 100 per cent.
23. Mr. Allen McKay : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the increase in child benefit since 1987.
46. Mr. Jim Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the increase in child benefit since 1987.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the increase in child benefit since 1987.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have, however, since then devoted considerable extra resources totalling some £350 million in real terms to the least well-off families--those on income support and family credit-- who do not gain from
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an increase in child benefit of itself and who are now therefore better off than they would have been if child benefit had been uprated.26. Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent representations he has received on the uprating of child benefit ; and if he will make a statement.
52. Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent representations he has received on the uprating of child benefit ; and if he will make a statement.
57. Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent representations he has received on the uprating of child benefit ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Members to the reply given to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan) earlier today.
30. Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the current value of child benefit if it had been uprated in line with inflation over the last three years.
31. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the current value of child benefit if it had been uprated in line with inflation over the last three years.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Members to the reply given to the right hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Orme) earlier today.
34. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the application of the criteria used to assess potential changes in benefits policy to the decision to freeze child benefit in the last financial year.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The considerations which led my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to his decision not to increase child benefit from April 1990 were fully explained by him in his statement to the House on 25 October 1989 at columns 841-45.
49. Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the value of child benefit at 1979 prices.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Member to my reply my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Sir I. Gilmour) on 12 December 1989 at columns 583-84.
Benefits, Coventry and Warwickshire
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the latest figures of how many people are dependent on (a) income support, (b) family credit and (c) housing benefit, broken down into claimants, dependants and children in his Department's offices in Coventry and Warwickshire.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 5 March 1990] : The available information is listed in the table. The figures for income support show the number of claimants on 30 November 1989. Data are derived from a 100 per cent. count of cases in action which include a number where
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benefit payments have ceased but other action is continuing. The figures for housing benefit show the total number in receipt of housing benefit on 30 November 1989. The family credit figures are based on those living in the areas covered by the local social security offices at the time their award was made on 23 February 1990. All of these figures include those who had made a claim where the award has yet to be made.No figures are available for dependants or children and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
|Income |Family |Housing
|support |credit |benefit<2>
------------------------------------------------------------
Coventry |32,830 |1,534 |37,249
Warwickshire<1> |24,207 |1,802 |37,155
<1> Excluding the Coventry total.
<2> Source is housing benefit management information
system-returns from local authorities.
One-parent Families
21. Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the latest figure for the number of lone-parent families in receipt of income support ; and how many such families were receiving supplementary benefit five years ago.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The latest date for which information is available is May 1988 when there were 722,000 lone-parent families in receipt of income support. In 1983 the number of lone parents receiving supplementary benefit was 471,000.
Notes :
1. Source --Annual Statistical Enquiries for 1983 and 1988. 2. The figures do not include prisoners' partners.
Advertising Costs
63. Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the cost of advertising and explaining the community charge rebate.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Members to my reply to the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Taylor) on 5 March at column 522 . Additionally, a campaign will be launched in the national press shortly to publicise the budget changes to the upper capital limits for all the income-related benefits.
Occupational Pension Schemes
25. Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to restrict self-investment by occupational pension schemes.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Social Security Bill contains a power to restrict occupational pensions investing in employer-related investments--a practice which we believe has a potential for conflicts of interest. We are arranging a survey to provide up-to-date information on the extent of self- investment to guide us in the regulations which we hope to introduce as soon as practicable after Royal Assent.
39. Miss Widdecombe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what powers the pension ombudsman will have to resolve any grievances held by members of occupational pension schemes.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : It is intended that the pensions ombudsman should have extensive powers to help resolve
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grievances brought to him by members of occupational personal pension schemes. He will be able to investigate and determine both complaints about alleged maladministration and disputes about fact or law.The pensions ombudsman will have similar powers to those of the county court in England and Wales ; and of the sheriff court in Scotland. He will be able to examine witnesses and require the production of documents, and he will issue a written statement of his determination and the reasons for it to those concerned. His determinations will be binding on the parties involved, and will be enforceable in a county or sheriff court.
Benefits (Long-term Sick and Disabled)
27. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the average annual real increase in spending on benefits for long-term sick and disabled people over the period (a) 1974 to 1979 and (b) 1979 to date ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : The average annual real increase, at 1989-90 prices, was as follows :
|£ million
-------------------------------------------
(a) 1974-75 to 1978-79 |220
(b) 1978-79 to 1988-89 |370
Social Fund
28. Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his review of guidance to local offices concerning budget restrictions on social fund loans.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. and learned Member to my statement of 26 March at columns 21-40. A copy of the revised guidance is in the Library.
35. Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for grants and loans from the social fund are approved on review after initial rejection.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is contained in the national summary statistics which are placed in the Library monthly.
53. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the repayments of loans to the social fund are available in full for the making of further loans or grants.
Mr. Scott : Yes, but allocations to budgets remain a matter for judgment as appropriate.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was for the Leven, Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy social security offices the proportion of income support claimants repaying social fund budget and crisis loans for each quarter between January and December 1989.
Mr. Scott [holding answer 26 March 1990] : Information about the local income support caseload is collected on a quarterly basis and the percentage of loans being repaid on the last day of each quarter is shown in the table.
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1989 |Budget Loans|Crisis Loans
|per cent. |per cent.
----------------------------------------------------
Leven
February |8.0 |1.3
May |9.3 |1.6
August |10.0 |1.3
November |10.7 |1.4
Dunfermline
February |8.7 |2.7
May |10.4 |3.9
August |10.4 |3.3
November |11.5 |3.7
Cowdenbeath
February |8.8 |2.7
May |10.3 |3.4
August |10.2 |2.9
November |9.8 |2.5
Kirkcaldy
February |8.8 |1.0
May |10.3 |1.2
August |10.7 |1.3
November |11.7 |1.4
#TCW90040259b
Year |Expenditure |Expenditure |Difference |Total |Percentage
|(cash) |(1989-90 |from 1989-90|Government |of total
|prices) |expenditure |spending |Government
|(cash) |spending
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |19,416 |39,119 |13,464 |77,600 |25.0
1983-84 |35,159 |48,579 |4,004 |120,400 |29.2
1987-88 |48,769 |55,968 |-3,385 |142,500 |34.2
1989-90 |52,583 |52,583 |- |161,900 |32.5
Note:
Figures for the years 1979-80 and 1883-84 are based on the old planning total: those for
1987-88 and 1989-90 on the new.
Pensioners
29. Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of pensioners are receiving income from savings or occupational pensions.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In 1987, 73 per cent. of pensioners received income from savings and 52 per cent. of pensioners had an occupational pension. This compares very favourably with 1979 when the corresponding figures were 62 per cent. and 41 per cent. Source : Family Expenditure Survey.
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the increase in pensioners' average net incomes for (a) 1974 to 1979 and (b) 1979 to date.
41. Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by how much pensioners' average net incomes have increased since 1979.
48. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the most recent figures he has for the increase in pensioners' incomes from savings since 1979.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Between 1974 and 1979, pensioners' average total net incomes rose by 3 per cent. in real terms. Recently available figures show a rise between 1979 and 1987 of over 31 per cent. in real terms. The same figures also show that pensioners' average income from savings more than doubled over the same period.
Pensions
32. Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to restore the link between the level of pensions and the higher of the increases in the retail prices index and earnings.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have no plans to do so. The link between retirement pension and increases in earnings is not the key factor in improving pensioners' incomes. What matters most to pensioners is their total income ; between 1979 and 1987 pensioners' average total net income increased by more than 31 per cent. in real terms.
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47. Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to ensure that the requirement for occupational pensions schemes to revalue pensions in payment is applied in the same way to money purchase schemes and personal pension schemes.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to ensure that the requirement for occupational pensions schemes to revalue pensions in payment applies in the same way to money purchase schemes and personal pension schemes.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : My right hon. Friend recently announced our further proposals to protect members of occupational pension schemes. Schemes, except those providing a money purchase benefit, will have to pay annual increases to members for their pension rights which they build up after an appointed Day. Rather different considerations apply in the case of money purchase and personal pension schemes. Their members already have the opportunity to use the proceeds of their investments to choose a pension that increases after retirement. We intend to consider the question of requiring members of such schemes to take any annuity providing pension increases as part of the next review of the terms of contracting-out of the state earnings related pension scheme.
61. Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to index-link pensions with earnings.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 7 March at column 679.
22. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much he estimates has been spent in 1990 on advertising (a) personal pensions schemes and (b) the state earnings-related pension.
40. Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the total that has been spent in 1990 on advertising (a) personal pensions schemes and (b) the state earnings- related pension.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much he estimates has been spent in 1990 on advertising (a) personal pension schemes and (b) the state earnings-related pension.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Nothing has been spent in 1990 on such advertising by the Department of Social Security.
50. Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the latest estimate of the number of people who have taken out appropriate personal pensions.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) earlier today.
Expenditure
33. Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total spending in his Department in 1979, 1983 and 1987 and currently in real terms ; and what percentage that is of total Government spending.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is in the table.
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1989 |Budget Loans|Crisis Loans
|per cent. |per cent.
----------------------------------------------------
Leven
February |8.0 |1.3
May |9.3 |1.6
August |10.0 |1.3
November |10.7 |1.4
Dunfermline
February |8.7 |2.7
May |10.4 |3.9
August |10.4 |3.3
November |11.5 |3.7
Cowdenbeath
February |8.8 |2.7
May |10.3 |3.4
August |10.2 |2.9
November |9.8 |2.5
Kirkcaldy
February |8.8 |1.0
May |10.3 |1.2
August |10.7 |1.3
November |11.7 |1.4
#TCW90040259b
Year |Expenditure |Expenditure |Difference |Total |Percentage
|(cash) |(1989-90 |from 1989-90|Government |of total
|prices) |expenditure |spending |Government
|(cash) |spending
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |19,416 |39,119 |13,464 |77,600 |25.0
1983-84 |35,159 |48,579 |4,004 |120,400 |29.2
1987-88 |48,769 |55,968 |-3,385 |142,500 |34.2
1989-90 |52,583 |52,583 |- |161,900 |32.5
Note:
Figures for the years 1979-80 and 1883-84 are based on the old planning total: those for
1987-88 and 1989-90 on the new.
42. Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total expenditure by his Department in (a) 1978-79 and (b) 1989-90.
Mr. Scott : Total expenditure in 1978-79 was £16,437 million in cash terms, or £38,677 million at 1989-90 prices. Estimated total expenditure for 1989-90 is £52,583 million.
AIDS
37. Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received concerning the adequacy of income support for people with AIDS ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have received a number of
representations on this topic. Almost without exception they refer to a need for people with AIDS or HIV infection to follow a special diet, said to cost £30 or more each week. Although we understand that people with AIDS are often advised to follow a high protein/calorie diet, there is research in the public domain which indicates that such a diet can be devised for little more than half that cost. The healthy eating plan which people with HIV infection are advised to follow is no more than a normal balanced diet.
Benefits (Disabled People)
38. Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures he is proposing to improve social security benefits for people who become disabled after reaching pensionable age.
Mr. Scott : Measures introduced in October 1989 targeted £200 million of additional help on less well-off, elderly and disabled pensioners. These changes mean that 2.6 million pensioners will gain, by up to £2.50 a week in the case of single people and £3.50 a week for couples. Provision in the current Social Security Bill will enable pensioners who are terminally ill to receive attendance allowance without having to serve the normal 26-week qualifying period.
58. Dr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people will gain from the improvements in benefits for disabled people which are being introduced this month.
Mr. Scott : An estimated 452,000 people are expected to gain from the improvements in benefits for disabled people to be introduced this month.
Operational Strategy
43. Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress has been made in implementing his Department's operational strategy.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Department's highly complex £1.7 billion strategy for the computerisation of
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the social security benefit payment system is proceeding as planned. The pilot exercise in 23 local offices has been completed and the systems are being introduced nationally office by office. By the end of March 1990, 199 offices had received the departmental central index (DCI) system ; 198 the retirement pensions system ; and 93 the income support system--out of an eventual target of 440 offices.Maintenance Payments
44. Mr. Alexander : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action he is taking to ensure that more maintenance is recovered from absent parents.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a further statement on the Government's progress on ensuring that eligible fathers pay maintenance to their families.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friends to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford (Dr. Clark) earlier today.
Disability Allowance
45. Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has any plans to abolish the six-month qualifying period for disability allowance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : The proposed qualifying period for the new disability allowance which will be introduced in 1992 is three months. If the hon. Member has in mind the six-month qualifying period for attendance allowance, the current Social Security Bill includes provision to remove it for terminally ill people. We do not propose to abolish it for other people. Attendance allowance is targeted at people with long-term attendance needs, and the qualifying period ensures that resources are concentrated on that group.
Housing Benefit
51. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will increase housing benefit in real terms in the next financial year.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The uprating of housing benefit and community charge benefit personal allowances and premiums takes effect in April 1990 and will take expenditure on those benefits to more than £6.3 billion in the financial year 1990-91. Expenditure on comparable items in the current financial year is estimated at £5.6 billion. In April certain premiums are being increased above the amount required to maintain their value in real terms ; these are the family disability, disabled child and lone parent premiums. In October, the lone parent's earnings disregard is to increase from £15 to £25, and a carer's premium is being introduced.
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The recently announced increases in the capital limits, to £16,000 for housing benefit and community charge benefit and to £8,000 for income support and family credit, also take effect from April. The change will benefit up to a quarter of a million people at a new cost for social security benefit estimated at £120 million a year.Relocation
54. Mr. Donald Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress has been made in relocating his Department's staff away from the London area.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 14 November 1989 to my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Mr. Riddick) at column 170 in which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that a substantial amount of the Department's work in London was to be relocated to Leeds. A site for the new headquarters building in Leeds has been identified and we expect that the relocation of posts from London will begin from the end of 1991.
Incentives to Work
55. Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment has been made by his Department of the impact of changes in recent years in social security benefit payment on financial incentives to work.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The effects of changes which may affect financial incentives to work are monitored constantly. As indicated in the Government's expenditure plans 1990-91 to 1992-93 (Cmnd 1014, chapter 14, paragraph 35), the impact on incentives is one of the criteria used to assess potential changes in social security benefit policy.
The Government have made considerable progress on improving financial incentives by alleviating the unemployment trap and eliminating the worst effects of the poverty trap. Far fewer people are now financially better off not working than only a few years ago. It is estimated that of 14 million working heads of households, only about 15,000 would receive more in benefit than they receive in wages from employment. The Government have virtually eliminated the possibility that a person can experience combined tax and national insurance deduction rates of 100 per cent. or more, which means that virtually no one now suffers a reduction in net income as a result of increased earnings. There have been significant increases in the real value of take-home pay through reductions in income tax, increased tax thresholds and restricting of national insurance contributions. Real take- home pay for a married couple with two children on average earnings has increased by 34 per cent. in real terms since 1978-79.
Public Service
56. Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps have been taken to improve his Department's service to the public.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Since the Government reforms were introduced in 1988, the social security system has become simpler for claimants to understand and easier for staff to operate. As a result there have been very real
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all-round improvements in standards of service to the public. In particular the average 1989-90 times taken to clear income support claims and callers have improved by 25 per cent. and 24 per cent. respectively when compared with pre-reforms' performance. We are aware that there is still room for further improvement, particularly in certain inner cities. We are tackling this by relocating some work, which requires no face-to-face contact, away from London to areas where we have fewer problems over staff recruitment and retention. In addition between now and 1991, we expect our programme to computerise social security operations in all local offices to make a major impact on the speed and accuracy of the service they provide.Glasgow Social Security Centre
59. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the working of the Glasgow social security centre ; and what plans he has to extend benefit-processing work away from south-east England.
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