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Cold Weather Payments
19. Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to conclude his annual review of the system of cold weather payments; and if he will make a statement. [36974]
Mr. Roger Evans: Further to the reply given to the hon. Member on 21 May, Official Report, column 93 I expect the review to be completed shortly.
Private and Social Insurance
20. Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the relative costs of private and social insurance in the welfare system. [36975]
Mr. Heald: We have made no estimates which cover the welfare system as a whole. Furthermore, private and state schemes are unlikely to be directly comparable. Even within the area of private insurance, plans tend to show considerable variation in charges between different types of scheme and the individual's requirements.
Income Support
21. Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent representations he has received about paying income support to 16 and 17-year-olds. [36976]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Department has received a small number of representations.
24. Mr. Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many children are now living in families that claim income support and associated benefits; and what was the equivalent figure in 1979. [36979]
Mr. Burt: A total of 4.04 million children live in families receiving income support, housing benefit or council tax benefit. It is not possible to make a direct comparison with the position in 1979.
Source:
Income Support Statistics, Quarterly Enquiry May 1995.
Social Security Statistics 1979.
Housing Benefit Management Information System annual 1 per cent. sample taken at the end of May 1995.
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28.
Mr. Evans: There are 185,000 men aged between 60 and 64 in receipt of income support.
Source:
Income Support Statistics, Quarterly Enquiry August 1995.
Note:
Figure is rounded to nearest thousand.
- (2) how many children and what percentage of all children in (a) York and (b) North Yorkshire lived in families in receipt of supplementary benefit or income support in (i) 1979, (ii) 1983, (iii) 1987, (iv) 1992 and (v) currently. [38869]
Mr. 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. Hugh Bayley, dated 22 July 1996:
(47) North Yorkshire District includes the offices of York, Harrogate and Northallerton.
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(48) North Yorkshire District includes the offices of York, Harrogate and Northallerton.
The area of North Yorkshire is covered by the BA's Districts of North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire (which includes the offices of Scarborough, Bridlington and Goole), Yorkshire Pennine (which includes the offices Halifax, Keighley and Skipton), Leeds (which includes the offices of Leeds East, Leeds North, Leeds North West, Leeds South and Leeds West), and Hull (which includes the offices of Hull West, Hull East and Hull East Outstation).
The information has been provided by the Central Data Unit, is provisional and may be subject to change.
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking how many people in (a) York and (b) North Yorkshire in (i) 1979, (ii) 1983, (iii) 1987, (iv) 1992 and (v) currently were in receipt of Supplementary Benefit or Income Support (IS), and how many children and what percentage of all children lived in families in receipt of Supplementary Benefit or IS.
The information is not available in the format requested. The Benefits Agency (BA) collate statistics by District Office. These Districts do not correspond to constituency boundaries or to specific county boundaries. The available information is shown in the attached tables which relate to the BA's Districts of North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Yorkshire Pennine, Leeds and Hull. The Districts of East Yorkshire, Yorkshire Pennine, Leeds and Hull include areas which are outside North Yorkshire.
There is no information available for North Yorkshire prior to 1991. Information for York is included in the North Yorkshire District, which includes the offices of York, Harrogate and Northallerton.
We do not collate statistics on the number or percentage of children who live in families in receipt of benefit.
Table A relates to the actual number of successful Income Support (IS) claims for 1992 and 1996. Table B relates to the actual number of people in receipt of IS on the last working day of May 1992 and May 1996.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
BA districts January to December 1992 January to June 1996
North Yorkshire(47) 25,015 10,342
East Yorkshire 16,288 7,726
Yorkshire Pennine 17,684 9,896
Leeds 49,218 20,299
Hull 35,045 14,994
BA districts May 1992 May 1996
North Yorkshire(48) 28,251 31,394
East Yorkshire 21,344 24,562
Yorkshire Pennine 30,389 31,033
Leeds 66,744 70,997
Hull 48,413 51,970
Benefits Agency
22. Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to improve the quality of service received by clients attending Benefits Agency offices. [36977]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Benefits Agency continues to be committed to maintaining caller facilities that meet the needs of the local community.
Social Security Reforms
23. Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the extent to which industrial action has been taken in response to recent social security reforms (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in other EU countries. [36978]
Mr. Lilley: In the United Kingdom we began to respond to the demographic, social and economic changes common to most industrial nations rather earlier than other countries, and have been able to avoid disruption by taking a longer-term perspective. I have done this by introducing reform measures gradually on a sector-by-sector basis to maintain an effective, efficient and affordable welfare system.
There has been no industrial action outside of my Department of which I am aware and very little adverse reaction from my own Department's staff. Other EU countries including Germany, France, Belgium and Italy, have been dogged by major disruption and unrest during their recent attempts to contain the cost of providing a welfare system.
Private Insurance Companies
27. Mr. Roy Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what role private insurance companies play in his Department's policy making. [36982]
Mr. Burt: In developing social security policies, we consult a wide range of interested parties, including, when appropriate, private insurance companies.
Telephone Advice Services
29. Mr. Heppell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the
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role of telephone advice services in the social security system. [36984]
Mr. Burt: The Department and its agencies have a range of telephone advice services offering a variety of relevant services to different customer groups.
State Pension (Retirement Age)
30. Lady Olga Maitland: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what flexibility about the age of retirement is contained in the Government's state pension arrangements. [36985]
Mr. Heald: Our aim is to maximise choice and flexibility in pension provision, whilst maintaining a balance between the interests of the taxpayer and of the pensioner.
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