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Asylum Seekers
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 13 March, Official Report, column 646, when he intends to establish the threshold levels for grants to local authorities in respect of costs that they face from measures to remove benefit from serious asylum seekers; and what consultations he has had with local authorities in seeking to establish the level. [22461]
Mr. Roger Evans: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 28 March, Official Report, column 717.
Housing and Council Tax Benefit
Mr. Robert Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to redesign or modify the procedure or forms which new income support claimants are given by the Benefits Agency to claims housing and council tax benefit. [22598]
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Mr. Roger Evans: The content and design of the housing benefit and council tax benefit claim forms provided by the Benefits Agency are reviewed annually by the Department in consultation with the local authority associations and the Benefits Agency. A review is under way to identify the changes required in preparation for the implementation of jobseeker's allowance in October. Housing benefit and council tax benefit claims procedures are monitored continually.
Pensions
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of commencing payment of a retirement pension on the day of a pensioner's 65th birthday. [18300]
Mr. Heald: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 19 March, Official Report, column 181.
Sir Andrew Bowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of pensioners who do not take up their entitlement to income support who also do not take up their entitlement to (a) housing benefit and (b) council tax benefit. [23967]
Mr. Heald: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on 11 January, Official Report, column 325.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will assess the advantage of extending to married couples in divorce proceedings the same rules for division of pension rights as apply in the case of civil servants wishing to allocate part of their pension to their wives; and if he will list the rules applying to civil servants. [22957]
Mr. Heald: The provisions governing the allocation of civil service pensions are contained in section 5 of, and appendix 8 to, the rules of the principal civil service pension scheme.
The Government have announced their commitment to the principle of pension splitting on divorce. Options for dealing with the treatment of pensions on divorce will be dealt with in the Green Paper that we intend publishing in the summer.
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what plans he has, in what time scale, to make regulations under section 149 of the Pensions Act 1995 to extend to occupational pension schemes his proposals for contracted-out money purchase payment schemes; [23128]
Mr. Heald:
We aim to lay regulations under section 149 of the Pensions Act 1995 before the summer parliamentary recess. From 6 April 1997 the intention is that newly contracted-out schemes will be able to contract out on a salary-related basis in respect of some members and a money purchase basis in respect of others. Existing contracted-out salary-related schemes will be able to change to contracted-out money purchase status without having to discharge their liabilities to provide salary-related benefits in respect of members' accrued rights. They will also be able to provide contracted-out
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money purchase benefits for some members and salary-related rights for others. Existing contracted-out money purchase schemes will be able to take advantage of the new flexibilities from April 1998. All these schemes will be known as contracted-out mixed benefit schemes or COMBS.
Dr. Godman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what percentage of those lone parents who were in receipt of family credit in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993-94 received family credit for (i) 26 weeks only, (ii) 52 weeks only and (iii) more than 52 weeks; [22187]
(3) how many couples claimed family credit in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993-94; [22190]
(4) what was the total number of family credit claimants in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993-94; [22191]
(5) of those couples in receipt of family credit in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993-94 what percentage received family credit for (i) 26 weeks only, (ii) 52 weeks only and (iii) more than 52 weeks. [22192]
Mr. Roger Evans:
The available information is set out in the table. To provide data on a comparable basis, it refers to recipients of family credit at the end of each financial year. This excludes awards beginning and ending during the year and therefore significantly underestimates the number and proportion of awards that last for 26 weeks only. The proportion with longer spells on family credit is thus over-estimated.
(2) by what date he will make regulations under section 149 of the Pensions Act 1995 to enable occupational pension schemes to be used for contracting out on a contracted out mixed benefits scheme. [23129]
(2) how many lone parents claimed family credit in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993-94; [22189]
| Caseload (000) | Percentage of caseload with family credit in payment for 26 weeks | Percentage of caseload with family credit in payment for 52 weeks | Percentage of caseload with family credit in payment for more than 52 weeks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-93 | ||||
| All families | 485 | 42.1 | 23.2 | 34.6 |
| All lone parents | 280 | 48.0 | 21.2 | 30.8 |
| All couples | 204 | 34.1 | 25.9 | 40.0 |
| 1993-94 | ||||
| All families | 536 | 38.9 | 21.1 | 39.9 |
| All lone parents | 303 | 45.2 | 21.0 | 33.8 |
| All couples | 233 | 30.7 | 21.3 | 48.0 |
Notes:
1. Figures refer to awards in payment at the end of the financial year; and may exclude those who ceased have ceased to claim during the year.
2. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Percentages have been expressed to one decimal place, and therefore may not tally.
Source:
Family Credit Computer System: 5 per cent. sample of all awards.
Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of children in Scotland aged (a) under five years and (b) five to 15 years living with lone parents were in receipt of family credit in (i) 1992-93 and (ii) 1993-94. [22188]
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Mr. Evans: The available information is set out in the table:
| As at 31 March 1993 | ||
| Under five years | 11,000 | 3.5 |
| Five to 15 years | 37,000 | 5.2 |
| As at 31 March 1994 | ||
| Under five years | 12,000 | 3.7 |
| Five to 15 years | 41,000 | 5.7 |
1. Figures refer to awards in payment at the end of the financial year and may exclude those who have ceased to claim during the year.
2. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Percentages have been expressed to one decimal place and therefore may not tally.
4. The number of children has been calculated by reference to a 5 per cent. sample of the family credit computer system and the number of children in Scotland by reference to the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys mid-term estimates 1993 and 1994.
Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of children in Scotland aged (a) under five years and (b) five to 15 years from two-parent families were in receipt of family credit in (i) 1992-93 and (ii) 1993-94. [22193]
Mr. Evans: The available information is set out in the table:
| As at 31 March 1993 | ||
| Under five years | 17,000 | 5.4 |
| Five to 15 years | 37,000 | 5.2 |
| As at 31 March 1994 | ||
| Under five years | 18,000 | 5.4 |
| Five to 15 years | 37,000 | 5.1 |
1. Figures refer to awards in payment at the end of the financial year; and may exclude those who have ceased to claim during the year.
2. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Percentages have been expressed to one decimal place and therefore may not tally.
4. The number of children has been calculated by reference to a 5 per cent. sample of the family credit computer system and the number of children in Scotland by reference to the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys mid-term estimates 1993 and 1994.
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