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Small Farmers
Miss Emma Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to set up emergency procedures for income support for financially vulnerable small farmers by exempting them from the actively seeking work criteria. [26131]
Mr. Roger Evans: Any claims from unemployed farmers would be subject to the normal benefit rules, including the actively seeking work rule. Farmers who continue to work may be entitled to in-work benefits depending upon their income and family circumstances.
Disability Pension
Mr. Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of (a) the cost and (b) the numbers benefiting financially if the housing benefit taper for people receiving a disability premium were reduced to 50 per cent. [26343]
Mr. Roger Evans: The estimated cost of reducing the housing benefit taper to 50 per cent. for claimants with a disability premium is £70 million; 245,000 existing claimants would gain, while a further 15,000 would be newly entitled to receive housing benefit. Notes:
1. Estimates are based on the family expenditure surveys of 1991, 1992 and 1993, uprated to 1996-97 prices and benefit levels.
2. Expenditure estimates are rounded to the nearest £5 million, and caseloads to the nearest 5,000.
25 Apr 1996 : Column: 255
Social Fund
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are his Department's plans for the future funding of (a) social fund money advice and (b) the Benefits Agency out-of-hours service, with particular reference to that provided by the London emergency office. [25630]
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 Ms Liz Lynne, dated 24 April 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary question asking what are his Department's plans for the future funding of (a) Social Fund money advice and (b) the Benefits Agency (BA) Out of Hours Service, with particular reference to that provided by the London Emergency Office.
I recently outlined the BA's plans for the future delivery of social security benefits based on the BA vision of "right benefit money to the right person at the right time every time".
The Agency will carry out a wide-ranging review of its activities as part of the Departmental Change Programme. Such a programme of change will cover all fundamental areas of the organisation's business and we are committed to achieve a 25% improvement in our productivity by 1998/99. In the first year it has been necessary to identify efficiencies and economies in excess of £200 million. All efficiencies and economies have been considered alongside the expenditure priorities the Agency has been set.
It is against this background that the Agency decided to review the need for the Out Of Hours Service and the London Emergency Office which both provide a service to customers at night and weekends, and also the provision of Social Fund Money Advice.
It was decided to end the funding for Social Fund Money Advice from 1 April 1996 because it was found that the service that could be provided by Social Fund Officers was very limited, there was a very low customer take up, and other outside bodies such as the Citizens Advice Bureaux were able to provide a comprehensive service.
The need for and the level of service provided by the Out of Hours Service and the London Emergency Office is currently being examined and a decision on it viability is expected later this year.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
Child Support Agency
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what performance targets apply for the operation of the Child Support Agency's computer system. [25629]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 24 April 1996.
25 Apr 1996 : Column: 256
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Computer System (CSCS) performance targets.
The performance targets for CSCS are set out in a Service Level Agreement between the Child Support Agency (CSA) and the Information Technology Services Agency (ITSA).
The service level targets are as follows:
Availability
The target is for ITSA to provide the computer service to all CSA locations 95% of the planned service hours as laid down in the agreement.
Mr. Frank Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what have been the annual running costs of the agency and the total to date. [26570]
Response Times
There are two targets for the time it takes the computer to respond and display information to the user these are:
an average response time of 5 seconds and for
95% of all responses to be within 7 seconds
Output Handling
The target is for ITSA to accurately handle and despatch 95% of all computer outputs within one working day.
Service Support
The target is for ITSA to clear 95% of all incidents (problems) within agreed clearance times as laid down in the agreement.
I am pleased to be able to tell you that all performance targets for CSCS have been consistently exceeded in 1995/96.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Mitchel: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. Frank Field, dated 24 April 1996:
(23) Forecast figure subject to end of year adjustment.
I hope this is helpful.
Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give a breakdown of full assessments by the Child Support Agency by amount and as a proportion of cases cleared from 1 April 1995 to the present time in the same format as his answer of 25 October 1995, Official Report, column 802. [25765]
I am replying to your parliamentary question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency running costs.
The running costs of the Agency for its first two years were published in our relevant Annual Reports and Accounts. The details for 1995-96 are not quite finalised yet. The most up to date figures therefore are:
£ million
1993-94 139
1994-95 192
1995-96 (23)197
Total 528
Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 24 April 1996:
25 Apr 1996 : Column: 257
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency assessments.
Data is currently available to 30 November 1995. A breakdown of the full maintenance assessments by amount and as a proportion of cases cleared from 1 April 1995 to 30 November 1995 is attached. Work is currently in progress to update this information and details should be available in July 1996.
I hope this is helpful.
| Weekly maintenance | Full assessments (000s) | Percentage as a proportion of cases cleared |
|---|---|---|
| £0.00-£2.35 | 34.3 | 15.6 |
| £2.36-£4.99 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| £5.00-£9.99 | 1.4 | 0.6 |
| £10.00-£19.99 | 4.8 | 2.2 |
| £20.00-£29.99 | 5.7 | 2.6 |
| £30.00-£39.99 | 5.6 | 2.6 |
| £40.00-£49.99 | 7.0 | 3.2 |
| £50.00-£59.99 | 5.9 | 2.7 |
| £60.00-£69.99 | 5.5 | 2.5 |
| £70.00-£79.99 | 4.0 | 1.8 |
| £80.00 + | 4.4 | 2.0 |
| Total | 79.6 | 36.3 |
1. Data extracted from a 5 per cent. sample of cases as at 30 November 1995.
2. Includes absent parents on Income Support.
3. Figures do not sum due to rounding.
25 Apr 1996 : Column: 258
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much benefit savings have been achieved each year since April 1993; broken down into (a) maintenance collected, (b) maintenance arranged, (c) non-maintenance cessations and (d) in total for each of (a) to (c) since April 1993. [26569]
Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. Frank Field, dated 24 April 1996:
25 Apr 1996 : Column: 257
25 Apr 1996 : Column: 257
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency benefit savings.
The attached table shows the yearly breakdown of benefit savings achieved by the Agency since April 1993. Up to February 1996 the Agency has firmly recorded a total of £1,351 million in benefit savings. The figures for March have yet to be finalised. They will include the annual reconciliation of components like family credit and housing benefit. This will certainly mean that the forecast of £510 million for 1995/96 will be achieved. It may even be an underestimate. On this basis the estimated forecast for the first three years is £1,407 million.
I hope this is helpful.
1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 (up to February 1996 Total
Maintenance collected (including AP IS deductions) 30 57 67 154
Maintenance arranged 177 133 117 427
Non-maintenance cessations 138 200 169 507
Other elements 73 89 101 263
Total 418 479 454 1,351
Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which Child Support Agency documents are available under the terms of the open government code. [25628]
Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
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