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Column 533
Benefits to be taken into account
Benefit being assessed |Income support |Family credit |Housing benefit |Community
|Charge benefit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Income support |- |Yes |No |No
Family credit |No |- |No |No
Housing benefit |No |Yes |- |No
Community charge benefit |No |Yes |No |-
Generally attendance allowance--other than for those in residential care or nursing homes--and mobility allowance are fully disregarded in all the income related benefits, as is the first £10 of war widows pension, war disablement pension and other analogous payments. Child benefit, including one-parent benefit, is disregarded in the assessment of family credit. Most other social security benefits are taken fully into account in calculating entitlement to the income-related benefits.
Full lists of items which are disregarded in whole or in part are contained in regulation 40(2) of, and schedule 9
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to, the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 ; regulation 24(2) of, and schedule 2 to the Family Credit (General) Regulations 1987 ; 29(2), 31(2), 33(2), 36(3) and 38(2) of, and schedules 3, 4 and 5 to, the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 and regulations 23(2) of, and schedule 3 to, the Community Charge Benefits (General) Regulations 1989.Family credit is paid at the same rate for a fixed period of 26 weeks. If a claim for income support is made within
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this period, family credit is taken into account in the calculation of the income support for the remainder of the 26-week period.Press and Public Relations
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total expenditure by his Department on press and public relations in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what is his estimate for 1990- 91 and budget for 1991-92.
Mr. Scott [holding answer 30 April 1991] : The Department has no separate public relations section. Functions commonly associated with public relations are carried out by information officers as part of their duties in the Department's information division.
I refer the hon. Member to the replies, given to him on 19 November 1986 at column 794, on 4 November 1987 at columns 785-87, on 14 January 1988 at column 402, on 13 March 1989 at columns 30-31, for information for 1979-80 to 1989-90.
Estimated total expenditure by the information division in 1990-91 is as follows :
|£ million
--------------------------------------
Publicity |12.843
Staff |1.354
Running costs |0.603
The 1991-92 budgets for the information division in the Department of Social Security headquarters and the Benefits Agency are as follows.
£ million
|DSS HQ |Benefits agency
----------------------------------------------------------------
Publicity |12.992 |8.70
Staff |0.658 |0.54
Running costs |0.550 |0.05
Care Homes
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the maximum rates of benefit for each category of residential care and nursing home in April 1987 and 1991, both in cash and real terms.
Mr. Scott [holding answer 8 May 1991] : The table shows the national limits for April 1987 and 1991 in cash and real terms, using April 1991 as the base and applying movements in the retail prices index to convert the April 1987 limit into 1991 terms. The comparison should be treated with caution because the RPI is only a measure of price movements generally.
April 1987 April 1991
|(cash) |(real) |(cash and
|real)
|£ |£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Residential care homes
Elderly |130 |170 |160
Very dependent elderly |145 |190 |185
Mentally ill |130 |170 |170
Drug/alcohol dependent |130 |170 |170
Mentally handicapped |150 |196 |195
Physically disabled
under pension age |190 |248 |230
Others |130 |170 |160
Nursing Homes
Elderly and others |175 |229 |255
Mentally ill |180 |235 |255
Drug/alcohol dependent |180 |235 |255
Mentally handicapped |200 |261 |260
Physically disabled
under pension age |230 |301 |290
Terminally ill |230 |301 |275
Greater London Extension
Residential care homes |17.5 |23 |23
Nursing homes |17.5 |23 |33
Claimants, Blyth Valley
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many tenants in Blyth Valley are in receipt of rent rebates and poll tax rebates.
Mr. Scott : At February 1991, the latest date for which information is available, the housing benefit caseload in the Blyth Valley borough council area was 6,994. Of this total, 5,358 households were in receipt of a rent rebate and 1,636 households were in receipt of a rent allowance. At the same date, approximately 18,000 individuals, including tenants, were in receipt of community charge benefit.
Benefits Agency
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will outline the duties and responsibilities of the
Under-Secretaries of State in his Department following the creation of the Benefits Agency ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Newton : The duties and responsibilities of Under-Secretaries of State are contained in the list of ministerial responsibilities, a copy of which is available in the Library. Ministers remain fully accountable to Parliament for the work of the Department, including its executive agencies.
Family Support
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what changes are intended in support for less well-off families in 1991-92.
Mr. Scott : As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced last October, child benefit rose by £1 a week for the eldest eligible child in each family this April. In addition, as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer anounced in his Budget statement, child benefit will rise by a further £1 a week for the eldest eligible child in each family in October, with an extra 25p a week for other children. The Government are taking all steps necessary to make sure that families at all income levels will gain from the October increase.
The income support personal allowances for single people under 25 who claim independently will also be increased in line with the children's rates.
These October increases will be in addition to the April uprating of all the income-related benefits.
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As my right hon. Friend said in his Budget statement, the Government are committed to increasing the new rates of child benefit in line with the movement in the retail price index each year, starting in April 1992. We will announce in the uprating statement the allocation of the individual amounts between the eldest eligible child and other children.
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