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Mr. Burt : The first stage of a major programme to bring computers to the Department's local offices was completed in July 1991. This has led to significant improvements in the service provided to the public. The time taken to process income support and retirement pension claims is much reduced and many routine activities such as benefits uprating and Christmas bonus payments are now automated. These improvements have been achieved without additional cost to the taxpayer.
Low-income Families
17. Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the number of low-income families which faced marginal reduction rates in excess of 100 per cent. in 1978-79 and the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Burt : In 1985, a total of 70,000 families had deduction rates of over 100 per cent. These are the earliest figures available. As a result of the social security reforms, almost no families have marginal deduction rates of over 100 per cent. in 1992-93.
Disability Benefits
19. Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the payment of disability benefits.
Mr. Scott : Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, wrote to hon. Members on 19 October setting out the positive steps which the Benefits Agency is taking to accelerate the processing of claims to disability living allowance and attendance allowance ; he is confident that work outstanding will soon be at normal levels.
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Benefits
20. Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the amount of money currently spent on social security benefits.
Miss Widdecombe : Our plans show that total expenditure on benefits in 1992-93 will be over £71 billion.
Family Credit
21. Mr. Waterson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by how much family credit increased in April 1992 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : As well as increasing family credit rates by 7 per cent., the other changes we introduced in April 1992 made the benefit available to more people. By July 1992, an extra 75,000 families were receiving family credit compared with July 1991.
Pensioners
22. Mr. Willetts : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the level of Government pensioner provision for those over 80 years and for disabled pensioners.
Miss Widdecombe : Older and disabled pensioners have gained considerably from benefit increases. Since the 1988 reforms this group alone has received £360 million per year over and above normal upratings. This demonstrates our commitment to help those pensioners most in need.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what fresh initiatives he proposes to introduce to safeguard the means of older people who lack a private income or personal pension other than the state pension and benefits.
Miss Widdecombe : Premiums for pensioners receiving income-related benefits were increased last month. Since 1989, these pensioners have received nearly £700 million a year above the normal uprating. We remain committed to safeguarding their interests.
Social Security Policy
23. Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement outlining major new announcements on Government social security policy announced since the end of July.
Mr. Scott : On 7 August, we announced measures to crack down on unemployed people, including new age travellers, who claim benefit but make no real effort to find work.
In addition, on 17 September we published a consultation paper on the law and practice of occupational pensions schemes.
Pregnant Women (Benefits)
24. Mr. Godsiff : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will meet the Equal Opportunities Commission to discuss his views about women who deliberately become pregnant to gain benefit advantages.
Mr. Burt : Ministers meet representatives of the Equal Opportunities Commission as necessary to discuss issues
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of mutual concern. I am, of course, willing to receive representations from the commission concerning issues which come within my ministerial responsibilities. My officials are also in regular touch with the commission.Care Homes
25. Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the numbers of income support claimants in private care or nursing homes whose personal resources, including income support, do not meet the fees they are expected to pay.
Mr. Burt : The number of residents in all voluntary and private homes whose total income support does not meet the fees is about 92, 000. Separate estimates for private and voluntary homes are not available.
Information is not available on how many of these have disregarded benefits, income or capital with which to meet any shortfalls.
Pensioners (Central Heating)
27. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner households had central heating in 1979 and in 1990.
Miss Widdecombe : The percentage of pensioner households with central heating in 1979 was 43 per cent., increasing to 74 per cent. in 1990.
Pit Closures
28. Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to increase the social fund budget in areas affected by mining closures.
Mr. Scott : Social fund budget allocations are based on income support caseloads. Changes in the number of unemployed people claiming income support in individual districts will influence their future allocations. In this way allocations respond to local circumstances overall rather than to changes in any single industry.
Appointments
Mr Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all the names of public appointments that he has made, giving the period for which the appointment was made, relevant qualifications of the appointees and what remuneration each currently receives.
Miss Widdecombe : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is responsible for a large number of public appointments. The information requested for each of these could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, information is available from the Cabinet Office publications "Public Bodies" and "Public Appointments : A Handbook for Women's Organisations", copies of which are in the Library.
Unemployment Benefit
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how the training bonus paid to an unemployed person participating in employment training at the completion of their course is taken into account when assessing a subsequent claim for income support from that person ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Burt : Any payment not exceeding £200 received as a training bonus is disregarded. The whole of any bonus payment in excess of this amount is treated as capital but would only affect entitlement to benefit if the total capital held is more than £3,000.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of income support is the ceiling set by the Community Charges (Deductions from Income Support) (No. 2) Regulations 1990--SI 1990, No. 545 --for deductions ordered by courts for arrears of poll tax ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : The regulations provide for an amount to be deducted equal to 5 per cent. of the income support personal allowance for a single claimant aged 25 years or more, currently £2.15 per week, or, in the case of a court order made against a couple, 5 per cent. of the income support personal allowance for a couple where both members are aged 18 years or over, currently £3.35 per week. It is not possible to say what proportion of an individual's income support these amounts represent, as entitlement varies from case to case.
Correspondence
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements have been made since the letter of 6 October from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Henley, to the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford to provide a better service for correspondence on operational issues.
Mr. Burt : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Ms. Joan Ruddock, dated 30 October 1992 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what arrangements have been made since the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lord Henley, in connection with a constituency case, to provide a better service for correspondence on operational matters.
In relation to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the matter you raised in your earlier correspondence, we have received over four thousand enquiries from MPs about the progress of their constituents' claims and consequently we have not been able to respond as quickly as we would have liked. We have targeted considerable extra resources into this area and are pursuing the clearance of outstanding written enquiries as quickly as possible.
As I explained in my letter of 6 July and 19 October to all MPs, I appreciate that you will have constituents who are seriously concerned about the progress of their claim to DLA. To facilitate your enquiries on their behalf the telephone hotline remains available for MPs who have very urgent enquiries and this service will be maintained until at least the end of the year.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list by month for the past 12 months
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the number of unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds in the Doncaster area who received financial support due to non- availability of places on a training scheme ;(2) if he will list by month for the past 12 months how many unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds in the Doncaster area received income support under the severe hardship provision.
Mr. Burt : The administration of benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 October 1992 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if he will list by month for the last 12 months the number of unemployed 16 and 17 year olds in the Doncaster area who received financial support due to non-availability of places on a training scheme and those who received Income Support under the severe hardship provision. I have detailed below the total number of applications under the severe hardship provisions and the number in which payment was awarded. Unemployed 16 and 17 year olds who receive payment due to non-availability of places on a training scheme form the same group of customers.
Details of the total number of claims to severe hardship payments do not equate with the number of customers. This is because the statistics cover the number of applications, rather than the number of individuals who have claimed. Some customers may have made more than one application.
|Total applications|Successful
|applications
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1991
October |36 |26
November |41 |30
December |28 |22
1992
January |54 |39
February |43 |37
March |43 |27
April |56 |38
May |48 |29
June |48 |40
July |39 |31
August |42 |30
September |53 |39
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
Local Office, Doncaster
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each local office in the Doncaster area benefit agency how many staff, full-time equivalent, were employed for each quarter in 1991 and (a) income support, (b) contributions, (c) direct payments, (d) social fund, (e) fraud, (f) child support and (g) total, respectively ; and what is the position for the latest available date.
Mr. Scott : The resourcing of offices is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 October 1992 :
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As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many staff, full time equivalent, were employed by the Benefits Agency's Doncaster District for each quarter in 1991 ; and what is the position for the latest available date.The number of staff employed in the Doncaster District for each quarter in 1991 ; and at 30 September 1992, the latest date for which information is available, are attached at Annexes A to E. The staffing figures have been broken down as far as possible. For operational reasons it is not possible to identify separately staff on Income Support, Social Fund and Contributory Benefits within each site.
I should explain that Mexborough Office, which was previously included in the Doncaster District, is now part of the Rotherham District. The staffing levels of that office have therefore been excluded from the attached Annexes.
Information about staffing levels in the Contributions Agency and Child Support Unit has been provided by their respective Chief Executives, Miss Ann Chant and Ms. Ros Hepplewhite.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
The information has been placed in the Library.
Pensioners' Incomes
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of the average pensioner's income comes from occupational pensions, savings and earnings.
Miss Widdecombe : The latest information held on pensioners' income shows that 74 per cent. of pensioners have income from savings, 57 per cent. have occupational pensions and 9 per cent. have earnings from work.
Note : Based on pensioner units ie single pensioners at or over state pension age and married couples where the husband is at or above state pension age.
Source : 1988 Family Expenditure Survey.
Mirror Group
Mr. Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action is currently being considered by his Department as a result of the unlawful removal of pension funds of the Mirror Group Newspapers plc ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-East (Mr. Congdon) on 27 October at columns 643-46.
Social Security Expenditure
Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of total Government expenditure he estimates the social security budget will represent in this current financial year ; and what were the figures for the previous three years.
Mr. Scott : Total social security spending as a proportion of general Government expenditure is given in the table.
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1989-90 |26.57
1990-91 |27.38
1991-92 |28.97
1992-93 |29.14
Note-1991-92 based on figures
for estimated outturn 1992-93
based on planned expenditure.
Cold Weather Payments
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he next intends to review the level and operation of cold weather payments.
Mr. Scott : Very significant improvements to the cold weather payments scheme were introduced last winter, including the automatic payment of eligible people without the need to make a claim. The scheme is kept under regular review, and some further refinements in individual areas' links with weather stations are planned for introduction this winter.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the employers' financial responsibility will be for maternity pay under the EC directive on the protection at work of pregnant women.
Mr. Scott : We are considering the directive's implications for maternity benefits and will make an announcement in due course.
Income Statistics
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the increase in real average income before and after housing costs, for each of the decile groups, in the upper half of the population between 1979 and 1988-9.
Mr. Burt : Real increases in the income beteen 1979 and 1988-89 combined for the decile groups in the upper half of the income distribution are given in the table. These figures relate to the United Kingdom and are based on income equivalised for household size and composition.
Percentage changes in real income by decile group 1979 to 1988-89
Decile group |Income before |Income after housing
|housing costs |costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sixth |22 |24
Seventh |25 |27
Eighth |28 |30
Ninth |35 |37
Tenth (top) |44 |46
Unemployment
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the level of benefit payment expenditure to unemployed people for each year since 1979-80, and the average benefit entitlement per claimant annually.
Mr. Burt [holding answer 28 October 1992] : Expenditure on benefits to unemployed people since 1979-80 is shown in the table. The average benefit payment per claimant is not available. Unemployed people may receive all, one or any combination of unemployment benefit, income support, housing benefit, community charge benefit or a loan from the social fund. So the actual number of claimants who receive benefits for unemployment is not known.
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|Annual expenditure
|£ million
---------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |1,470
1980-81 |2,530
1981-82 |4,022
1982-83 |5,011
1983-84 |5,701
1984-85 |6,139
1985-86 |6,963
1986-87 |7,308
1987-88 |6,647
1988-89 |5,235
1989-90 |4,309
1990-91 |5,036
1991-92 |7,362
Note: Benefits for unemployed people include
Unemployment Benefit, the principal income-related
benefits and payments from the Social Fund to unemployed
people and their families. The table does not include
child benefit, one parent benefit, maternity benefits,
widows' benefits or any of the disability benefits to
which unemployed people may also be entitled.
Communications
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will make it his policy that communications from the North Fylde central office of the DSS shall provide (a) the date of the communication, (b) the name of the official responsible, (c) the telephone and extension number of that official and (d) a clear statement of the current position of the application.
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Mr. Scott : Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, has replied to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Alun Michael, dated 29 October 1992 :
As chief executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking whether it would become policy that communications from the Fylde Benefits and War Pensions Directorate of the DSS (North Fylde Central Office prior to April 1991) would provide (a) the date of the communication, (b) the name of the official responsible, (c) the telephone and extension number of the official and (d) a clear statement of the current position on the application.
I can confirm that it is the policy of all branches of the Fylde Benefits and War Pensions Directorate to provide the date of the communication together with the name, telephone and extension number of the official concerned on correspondence issued to customers, although where the outcome of a claim is notified via a computer system, it is not currently possible to include the name of an official nor a telephone extension.
For Disability Living Allowance, we have set up a Central Enquiry Service for the handling of telephone calls from customers. The use of extension numbers for customers contacting this service is not generally appropriate since the overwhelming majority of calls are answered without further referral. Staff on this service routinely give their name when answering the telephone.
Statements on the current position of an application for a benefit or pension administered at Fylde Benefits and War Pensions Directorate are also provided where appropriate.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
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