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Benefits (Deceased Claimants)
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what are the procedures for notifying his Department's agencies of the death of a claimant with particular reference to the Pensions Agency; [6267]
- (2) what safeguards exist to ensure Department of Social Security agencies do not continue to pay benefits or pensions after a claimant has died, when the payments are made to a bank account. [6266]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: When a death is registered with the registrar, the informant will be given a form BD8 along with the original death certificate. This is a free certificate to be used as a verified notification of death to the Department of Social Security.
This form asks several questions about the deceased and if benefit was in payment. It also asks the person completing it to send it in to the local social security office. The BD8 has recently been re-designed and now asks for it to be sent into the Department regardless of whether or not benefit was in payment to the deceased.
The registrars pass details of the deaths reported to them to the Office of Population Censuses and Survey. The details are then transferred to a tape which is sent to the Contributions Agency. The details from this tape are then passed to the departmental central index which then broadcasts the dates of death to every benefit computer
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system. The broadcast automatically suspends payment of benefit, regardless of the method used to pay the customer.
The notes in the retirement pension order books and the leaflet BR2215 which is given to claimants who receive their RP by automated credit transfer, contain a section on what to do if the claimant has died. The advice is simply to advise the agency of the details of death and return the order book where appropriate.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will update the information given in his answer of 27 October 1994, Official Report, columns 797-800, by substituting 1996-97 values for current values in columns 4 and 5 of the table, omitting items (i) and (q) and adding the lone-parent premium, one-parent benefit and the £50 earnings limit for invalid care allowance. [6435]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security and Disabled People on 18 December, Official Report, columns 887-90.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the expenditure of his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies on newspaper advertising by title for each year since 1990-91; and what estimate he has made for 1995-96 based on expenditure to date and existing plans. [6566]
Mr. Burt:
The information could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
Mr. Chris Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the level of combined employer and employee contributions necessary to achieve balance in the national insurance fund in (i) 1995-96, (ii) 1996-97, (iii) 2025 and (iv) 2035, based on the assumptions contained in "Equality in State Pension Age", Cm 2420. [6531]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
The available information is in the table.
| Year | Contribution level (main rates)(64) |
|---|---|
| 1995-96(62) | 19.55 per cent. |
| 1996-97(62) | 19.25 per cent. |
| 2025(63) | 16.9 per cent. |
| 2035(63) | 16.7 per cent. |
Notes:
1. Based on the estimates underlying the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1996-97".
2. Based on the National Insurance Fund long-term financial estimates (Report by the Government Actuary on the third Quinquennial Review under section 137 of the Social Security Act 1975 (HC160--31 January 1995).
3. Estimated level (excluding employee and employer National Health Service allocations of 1.05 per cent. and 0.9 per cent. respectively) for there to be no Treasury Grant and for the minimum level of the fund to be maintained at the recommended one sixth of annual benefit expenditure.
Source: Government Actuary's Department.
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Research Studies (Sunderland)
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all DSS-funded pilots, trials and research studies which have been conducted since 1989 in (a) the city of Sunderland, (b) Wearside district and (c) Sunderland travel-to-work area identifying (i) title, summary and duration of the pilot/trial, (ii) target population and total number of participants and (iii) whether each pilot, trial or research finding was published and the date of publication; and if he will list all other non-DSS research bodies or organisations involved in each pilot, trial or research scheme. [6324]
Mr. Roger Evans: There are no details available of any pilots, trials or research having taken place in prior to 1992 in the geographical areas specified.
| Pilot trial | |
|---|---|
| Title | Annual Local Customer Survey |
| Duration | Several weeks |
| Target population | All district customers |
| Participants | 10 per cent. of total customer base |
| Publication | Yes--results held locally (no results held for 1992 survey) |
| Non-DSS involvement | None |
| Pilot trial | |
|---|---|
| Title | Benefit Review of Income Support (IS) and Unemployment Benefit (UB) |
| Duration | 5 April 1994 to 8 May 1994 (Durham) 26 September 1994 to 25 November 1994 (Tyneside and Wearside) |
| Target population | All Benefits Agency (BA) customers in these areas |
| Participants | 20 (Durham)--Pilot 280 (Tyneside and Wearside) |
| Publication | Main exercise 10 July 1995 |
| Non-DSS involvement | Department of Employment |
| Pilot trial | |
|---|---|
| Title | Trial into Revised Standards of Identity during Encashment of Instruments of Payment (IOPs) |
| Duration | March-June 1995 |
| Target population | All BA customers in these areas |
| Participants | Actual numbers not known. Would include all BA customers who presented an IOP for encashment at a Post Office during the period of the trial |
| Publication | Not for external publication. Information for internal use only. |
| Non-DSS involvement | Post Office Counters Ltd. |
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In addition, the Sunderland travel-to-work area has been selected as one of the eight areas chosen to pilot earnings top-up. The pilot will start in October 1996 and last for three years. Proposals for earnings top-up--an in-work benefit for people without dependent children--were published on 5 July 1995 in the Green Paper "Piloting change in Social Security--helping people into work". The draft rules of the scheme, including the postcodes of the pilot areas, were laid before Parliament on 6 November 1995 and debated in the House of Commons on 25 November.
Social Fund
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of applicants to the social fund for community grants or crisis loans are refused. [6935]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: Information on the number of awards and refusals from the discretionary social fund for 1994-95 is contained in the latest Secretary of State's annual report on the social fund, a copy of which is in the Library.
Community care grants may be awarded in a wide range of defined circumstances. These include assisting people who are leaving residential or institutional care to re-establish themselves in the community; helping people stay in the community rather than enter care; easing exceptional pressure on families; helping with certain travelling costs; and assisting people who are caring for prisoners who are released on temporary licence. The majority of refusals were because the applicant did not satisfy the basic eligibility criteria. However, 54 per cent. of those refused a community care grant in the current year were awarded a repayable budgeting loan.
The information requested for the year to date (April to November) is in the table:
| Year: April- November 1995 | Applications received (thousands) | Refusals (thousands) | Refusals as a percentage of applications |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community care grants | 853 | 655 | 77 |
| Crisis loans | 749 | 160 | 21 |
1. The number of refusals overturned on review are not included.
2. Percentages obtained from rounded figures.
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the social fund in helping people on benefit or low incomes to meet intermittent or unexpected expenses. [6936]
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Mr. Mitchell: The Government believe that the social fund continues to work effectively, ensuring that available resources are targeted on those most in need of help with important expenses which are difficult to budget for. The discretionary fund provides particularly good value for money by recycling loan recoveries to help more people. Not every eligible person can expect to get a payment for every need they apply for, but the budgetary framework of the discretionary fund ensures that awards are made to help people with the highest priority needs. Social fund officers consider the individual circumstances of each application to the discretionary fund. Applicants who are dissatisfied with the decision in their case have the opportunity to seek a review. We will continue to keep the operation of the fund under close scrutiny, particularly in so far as it affects the help we are able to provide to some of our most vulnerable citizens.
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