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Mortgage Repayments (Benefits)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the maximum monthly amount of benefit paid by his Department towards the payment of mortgage repayments on properties belonging to unemployed people. [34593]
Mr. Roger Evans: There is no set maximum amount. However, for new income support claimants there is a limit of £100,000 on the size of mortgage for which help is available. At our current standard interest rate of 7.48 per cent. this gives a weekly amount of £137.38 with MIRAS, £143.85 without. This limit does not apply when part of the loan was used to adapt the home to meet the special needs of a disabled person.
Income Support
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (a) male and (b) female claimants of income support where the claimant (i) is signing on as unemployed and (ii) is sick or disabled, are also claiming for an adult dependant; and what is the average amount of benefit payable in each case. [34217]
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Mr. Roger Evans: The information is set out in the table.
| Male claimants | Female claimants | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases | Average weekly income support | Number of cases | Average weekly income support | |
| Unemployed | 349,000 | £96.29 | 19,000 | £84.15 |
| Sick or disabled | 282,000 | £76.81 | 92,000 | £81.40 |
Short-term sick cases paid by Automated Credit Transfer are not included.
Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the cost of raising the income support earnings disregard for lone parents to £25 per week; and how many people would gain from these changes. [34233]
Mr. Evans: The information is set out in the table:
| 1996-97 cost and gainers | Cost (£ million) | Income support gainers |
|---|---|---|
| Increasing the income support earnings disregard for lone parents to £25 | 20 | 45,000 |
1. The cost includes the cost of increased numbers on Income Support, including any additional entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
2. Gainers, include people additionally entitled to Income Support as a result of the change.
3. Figures are based on the 1994 Quarterly Statistical Enquiry and the 1991/1992/1993 Family Expenditure Survey, uprated to 1996/7 levels. Costs are rounded to the nearest £5 million, gainers to the nearest 5,000.
4. The total cost includes the cost of Jobseeker's Allowance from October 1996. The effect on the back to work bonus has not been estimated, as it not possible to quantify reliably future behavioural effects.
Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were disqualified from income support where the claimant's partner was working for more than 16 hours a week; and what is his estimate of the cost of abolishing the hours limit for partners. [34216]
Mr. Evans: Information is not available in respect of the number of people disqualified from income support where a partner works more than 16 hours a week.
The estimated cost of abolishing the hours rule for partners of income support claimants is about £150 million to £200 million per annum. This is at 1996-97 levels of incomes and prices, and includes the cost of jobseeker's allowance, income-related, from October 1996. The figures take no account of possible behavioural changes, or the increase to 24 hours a week for partner's hours from October 1996.
In-work Benefits
Mr. Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list by labour sector the number of people receiving in-work benefits in each year since 1979. [34743]
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Mr. Roger Evans: The information is not available. Information is held on the occupations of in-work benefit recipients, rather than on the industrial sector in which they are employed.
Mr. Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list by occupations previously covered by the wages council order the number of people receiving in-work benefits in each year since 1979. [34744]
Mr. Evans: The information is not available.
National Insurance
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the amount of national insurance contributions which have been unpaid during each of the last three years from (a) employers and (b) the self-employed. [34244]
Mr. Heald: Estimates of the value of national insurance contributions unpaid by employers are available only for the 1992-93 and 1993-94 tax years. A random survey of employers known to the Contributions Agency estimated that underpayments of class 1 NIC for 1992-93 and 1993-94 were £111 million and £76 million respectively.
Self-employed contributors pay class 2 and class 4 contributions. Class 2 contributions are collected by direct debit payments or in response to the issue of quarterly bills. Estimates as to unpaid class 2 contributions could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Class 4 contributions are collected by the Inland Revenue, which draws up its accounts on the last Friday in October. For the years ended 1993 to 1995 the amounts of class 4 contributions 1 uncollected and written off were:
Mr. Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in each year since 1989 have been in receipt of a national insurance credit for (a) incapacity, where no benefit is in payment, (b) unemployment, where no benefit is in payment, (c) people entitled to invalid care allowance, (d) people receiving statutory sick pay, (e) women receiving statutory maternity pay and (f) men aged between 60 and 64 years. [34275]
Mr. Heald:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
Figures for class 4 contributions are for England and Wales and Scotland only.
1993: £66.7 million
1994: £52.8 million
1995: £34.5 million
| Total claimants (thousands) | |
|---|---|
| 1 April 1989(4) | 157 |
| 31 March 1990(4) | 205 |
| 30 March 1991(4) | 262 |
| 4 April 1992(4) | 320 |
| 3 April 1993(4) | 387 |
| 2 April 1994(3) | 440 |
| 12 April 1995(4) | 512 |
| 29 February 1996(5) | 580 |
(3) Point in time data--numbers are as at date shown.
(4) Source: 1 per cent. sample of all claims to Sickness Benefit in GB.
(5) Source: 5 per cent. sample of claims for Incapacity Benefit, excluding a small number of cases not held on the computer system.
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| Total claimants (thousands) | |
|---|---|
| May 1989 | 274 |
| May 1990 | 220 |
| May 1991 | 280 |
| May 1992 | 313 |
| May 1993 | 335 |
| May 1994 | 281 |
| May 1995 | 231 |
| February 1996(7) | 229 |
Notes:
(6) Point in time data--numbers relate to the position on the second Thursday of May of the relevant year and are the number of unemployed claimants not receiving Unemployment Benefit or Income Support. Figures include a small number who will not receive credits, but cannot be identified separately.
(7) Data for February 1996 are the most recent available.
Source:
5 per cent. sample of unemployed claimants.
| Financial year | ICA credits (thousands) | Men aged between 60 and 64 (thousands) |
|---|---|---|
| 1988-89 | 116 | 1,299 |
| 1989-90 | 129 | 1,311 |
| 1990-91 | 143 | 1,331 |
| 1991-92 | 174 | 1,348 |
| 1992-93 | 210 | 1,371 |
Source:
1 per cent. of NIRS (National Insurance Recording System) taken at February 1994.
Funeral Costs
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the average cost of a funeral in each of the last five years and for the current year in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) the United Kingdom as a whole; and if he will make a statement; [34412]
- (2) what figures his Department has on the average cost of a funeral in each of the last five years and for the current year in each region of England; and if he will make a statement. [34413]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Department does not collect information on funeral costs. Where someone has good cause for taking responsibility for a funeral but they have insufficient funds, help is available from the social fund. The reasonable cost of a dignified funeral is allowed. This
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includes up to £500 for a specified funeral director's charges, plus all the necessary disbursements for either a burial or cremation.
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent investigations his Department has commissioned into the cost of simple funerals. [34405]
Mr. Evans: Social fund funeral payments cover the reasonable cost of a dignified funeral. This includes up to £500 for specified funeral directors' charges, plus all the necessary disbursements for either burial or cremation. In the case of burials, the cost to the taxpayer could well exceed £1,000. In deciding the reasonable costs, the adjudication officer takes into account the level of prices charged locally for each of the items allowable.
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