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Miss Widdecombe : I refer my hon. Friend to my oral answer to the hon. Member for Bolton, North-East (Mr. Thurnham) earlier today.
Invalidity Pension
16. Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the average percentage increase in real terms of the invalidity pension and invalidity allowances since November 1978.
Mr. Scott : Invalidity pension and invalidity allowances have increased by almost 3 per cent. in real terms between November 1978 and April 1992. From April 1993 we have announced an increase in line with last September's RPI of 3.6 per cent. The latest RPI figure for January was 1.7 per cent.
The average weekly payment of invalidity benefit was £67.40 on 30 March 1991, the latest date for which information is available. Note : Information from a 1 per cent. sample of claimants.
Occupational Pensions
17. Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what further proposals he has to protect occupational pension scheme members from their companies accessing the funds for their own purposes.
Miss Widdecombe : A detailed and wide-ranging review of the legal framework within which occupational pension schemes operate is currently being carried out by an independent committee, the Pensions Law Review Committee. It would be inappropriate for the Government to pre-empt its findings. Decisions on whether any legislative changes are appropriate will be taken in the light of the committee's recommendations.
Disability Living Allowance
18. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many disability living allowance cases are still to be dealt with by his Department.
Mr. Scott : There were 37,000 disability living allowance claims awaiting action at the end of January.
Invalid Care Allowance
19. Mr. Whittingdale : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women are in receipt of invalid care allowance in 1978-79 and at the latest available date.
Mr. Scott : As at January 1981, the earliest date for which information is available, 3,600 women were receiving invalid care allowance. We estimate that there are currently 195,000 recipients of whom approximately 160,000 are women.
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Fraud
21. Mr. Brandreth : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what new measures his Department is taking to tackle fraud and the abuse of benefits.
Mr. Burt : An additional £10 million of resources are being made available to the Benefits Agency to help step up the fight against fraud. More specially trained investigators will be deployed and there will be increasing emphasis on the use of new technology. We are also planning to give new financial incentives to local authorities to clamp down on false housing benefit claims.
Child Support Agency
23. Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress he has made in setting up the Child Support Agency.
Mr. Burt : I am pleased to report that excellent progress has been made. The Child Support Agency will begin operations on 5 April as planned. Operating within the framework of the Child Support Act, the agency will provide a clear focus for the assessment, collection, and enforcement of maintenance payment, and ensure that many more parents meet their responsibility to maintain their children.
25. Mr. Brazier : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what long-term savings he expects as a result of the operation of the Child Support Agency.
Mr. Burt : We expect that, in the long term, absent parents will contribute around £600 million to the maintenance of their children, a cost currently borne by tax payers.
Family Credit
28. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security over what range of net income families are eligible for family credit.
Dr. Liam Fox : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security over what range of net income families are eligible for family credit.
Mr. Burt : Eligibility for family credit depends not only on a family's income, but also on the number of children in the family and their ages. A family with one child under 11 can get family credit if their net weekly income is less than £139 a week. There is no minimum qualifying level. Families with more, or older, children remain entitled to family credit at much higher levels of income. For example, a family with four children aged 3, 8, 11 and 16 could be eligible with a net income of £209 a week.
Mr. Sweeney : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the number of families receiving family credit ; and how many families were receiving a family income supplement in 1979.
Mr. Lilley : At the end of October 1992 there were 450,000 families receiving family credit, compared with 78,000 families receiving family income supplement in April 1979.
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Maxwell Pension Funds
29. Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the latest information known to his Department concerning efforts being made to recover the missing Maxwell pension funds ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The Department's Maxwell pensions unit and Sir John Cuckney continue to assist the liquidators and the pension scheme trustees in their attempts to restore assets to the schemes. Meanwhile, the trustees of the Maxwell Pensioners Trust announced last week that the trust would be making grants to pension schemes when the Government's emergency funding is exhausted to keep pensions in payment for a further period while asset recovery continues.
Unemployment Benefit
Ms Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will consider amending the operation by the employment service of the NI 230 rule.
Mr. Burt : We have no plans to amend the legislation which governs the abatement of unemployment benefit by occupational pension and/or personal pension and which is explained in leaflet NI 230.
Severe Hardship Payments
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for income support under the discretionary severe hardship provisions were made, and what percentage were successful, in November 1992, December 1992, January 1993 and February 1993.
Mr. Burt : The available information is in the table :
H
Date |Severe Hardship |Successful claims
|Applications
|Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1992 |8,668 |78
December 1992 |7,183 |80
January 1993 |12,647 |85
Notes:
1. Source: Severe hardship claims unit statistics.
2. Figures for February 1993 are not yet available.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total amount paid out to persons aged 16 and 17 years under the discretionary severe hardship provisions in each of the years since 1988.
Mr. Burt : The requested information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The amount of benefit paid to successful severe hardship applicants is not collected centrally.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual budget of the severe hardship unit responsible for administering discretionary income support payments to young people at risk from hardship.
Mr. Burt : Income support, of which severe hardship payments form a part, is not constrained by a budget.
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Child Benefit
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many awards of extended child benefit were made in each of November 1992, December 1992, January 1993 and February 1993.
Mr. Burt : The numbers are as follows :
|Number
----------------------------
November 1992 |3,236
December 1992 |2,242
January 1993 |2,901
February 1993 |2,017
European Council Directive
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will place in the Library a copy of the United Kingdom Government's response of 11 September 1992 to a letter from the European Commissioner responsible for social affairs and employment in connection with the United Kingdom's obligations under European Council directive (EEC) 80/987 ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The document requested is a formal reply to the European Commission. Such correspondence is treated as confidential on both sides and I am therefore not able to make the reply available. We understand that
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Commission officials are still considering it, but we are confident that the Government have done all that is required to implement this directive.Rent Rebates, Wakefield
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the total rent rebate received in Wakefield since 1979 ;
(2) what was the level of Government expenditure for rent rebates in Wakefield in each year since 1979.
Mr. Burt : Such information as is available is in the table :
Year |Rent rebate paid|Rent rebate
|subsidy<1>
|(£) |(£)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |12,472,345 |12,003,803
1984-85 |15,374,155 |14,812,851
1985-86 |14,939,028 |14,415,343
1986-87 |16,171,276 |15,588,471
1987-88 |16,383,457 |15,820,735
1988-89 |16,896,791 |16,389,887
1989-90 |15,526,638 |15,060,838
1990-91 |18,511,816 |18,498,893
1991-92 |20,450,512 |20,422,045
Note:
<1>From 1990-91, the bulk of rent rebate subsidy was paid by the
Department of the Environment as part of its housing revenue
account arrangements.
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