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SOCIAL SECURITY
Underpayments
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much of the £182.7 million underpaid to
26 Mar 1996 : Column: 555
claimants by the Benefits Agency in 1994-95 was subsequently paid. [22577]
Mr. Roger Evans: The administration of income support is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. George Mudie, dated 25 March 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how much of the £182.7 million underpaid to claimants by the Benefits Agency in 1994-95 was subsequently paid.
The information requested is not available as statistics on the amount of benefit paid retrospectively are not maintained. The National Audit Office's report of 1994-95 reported that £182.7 million of Income Support (IS) was underpaid. This includes non-cash underpayments concerning the apportionment of IS and other benefits.
When an underpayment of benefit is identified in a particular case, payment of arrears will normally be made.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
Benefits Agency
Mr Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of Benefits Agency employees earning between (i) £30,000 and £40,000 and (ii) 40,000 and £50,000 in (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95. [22678]
Mr. Roger Evans: This is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. George Mudie, dated 25 March 1996:
Figures are provisional and subject to change.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will list the number of Benefits Agency employees earning between (i) £30,000 and £40,000 and (ii) £40,000 and £50,000 in (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95.
The information requested is shown below:
1993-94 1994-95
£30,000--£40,000 315 294
£40,000--£50,000 149 134
Income Support
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list the number of staff and cost of the quality support team in 1994-95; [22679]
- (2) if he will list the financial savings made as a result of the work of the quality support team in 1994-95; [22681]
(3) if he will list the target figures and the achievement figures set for the Benefits Agency in respect of accuracy of income support for (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95; [22576]
(4) if he will list the gross total errors in income support for 1994-95 (a) recorded by and (b) notified to his Department indicating the amount attributed to mortgage interest payments. [22578]
Mr. Roger Evans: The administration of income support is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
26 Mar 1996 : Column: 556
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. George Mudie, dated 25 March 1996:
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the annual cost of restoring the full rate of income support to those people in the 18 to 25 years age group. [22784]
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking: if he will list the numbers of staff and cost of the Quality Support Team (QST) in 1994-95; if he will list the financial savings made as a result of the work of the QST in 1994-95; if he will list the target figures and the achievement figures set for the Benefits Agency (BA) in respect of accuracy of Income Support (IS) for (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95; and if he will list the gross total of errors in IS for 1994-95 (a) recorded by and (b) notified to his Department indicating the amount attributed to mortgage interest payments.
In 1994-95 there were 46 members of staff in the QST. The total running cost, which includes staff salary costs and goods and services, was £1,419,602. Although the QST do not generate financial savings they do provide the BA with an objective and reliable internal measurement of performance on an ongoing basis, they estimate the likely cost to the public account of all errors and they identify key areas of weakness and offer potential solutions. The QST also inform the BA's improvement programme investment appraisal and strategic process and they monitor the impact of newly introduced national and local initiatives.
The Secretary of State target for accuracy of IS payments in 1993-94 and 1994-95 was 92 per cent. The BA achieved an accuracy rate of 90.7 per cent. in 1993-94 and 86.3 per cent. in 1994-95.
The information is not available in the format requested because it is not possible to identify mortgage interest payments separately from other housing costs. The gross monetary value of the errors for 1994-95 recorded by the BA was £514 m, which includes both under and overpayments. £112M was attributable to housing costs which includes mortgage interest.
The National Audit Office notified an error rate of 16.1 per cent. for 1994-95. The gross monetary value was £848.2 m. Of this £108.6 m was attributable to housing costs which includes mortgage interest.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
Mr. Evans: The estimated annual cost in 1996-97 of raising the income support rate for 18 to 24-year-olds to that payable for people aged 25 and above is £360 million.
1. Estimates are based upon the 1994 Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry and the 1991, 1992, and 1993 Family Expenditure Surveys uprated to 1996-97 levels.
2. The estimated figure includes the cost of linked increases in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit thresholds and has been rounded to the nearest £5 million.
Mr. Evans: This is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. George Mudie, dated 25 March 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking how much of the £546.1 million estimated to have been paid in error by the Benefits Agency (BA) in 1994-95 was recovered.
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(18) Up to and including 19 March 1996.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of expenditure on the social fund for each of (a) 1995-96, (b) 1996-97 and (c) 1997-98. [22783]
This information is not available because the figure quoted is based on a small sample of cases checked by the National Audit Office which estimated that £546.1 million of benefit was overpaid during 1994-95.
However the BA will seek recovery in any individual cases where a recoverable overpayment is identified.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
Year Expenditure (£000's)
1990-91 8,600
1991-92 23,000
1992-93 15,000
1993-94 12,400
1994-95 77
1995-96(18) 63,000
| Expenditure met from | 1995-96 estimated out-turn | 1996-97 plans | (21)1997-98 plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulated Social Fund(20) | (19)86 | 83 | 100 |
| Discretionary Social Fund | 140 | 143 | 150 |
| Total | 226 | 226 | 250 |
(19) Care is needed in the interpretation of expenditure on the regulated fund as cold weather payments are demand led. The 1995-96 outturn for cold weather payments, including a spring supplementary estimate of £24 million, is now expected to be about £55 million higher than the original estimate of £8 million included in the figure given.
(20) Projections in the regulated fund include a reduction in funeral payment expenditure as a result of reforms introduced during 1995-96.
(21) 1997-98 figures are rounded to the nearest £50 million.
Pensions Uprating
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the annual cost of giving non-resident pensioners the same pensions uprating as for resident pensioners. [22778]
Mr. Heald: The estimated cost of paying fully indexed benefits to all state retirement and widow pensioners living abroad whose benefits are not uprated is £235 million a year--latest available figure based on April 1994 rates of benefit. The estimated cost of paying just the April 1994 uprating to these pensioners is estimated to be £16 million.
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