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Contracts
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a list showing the number, nature and value of contracts awarded by his Department to Coopers and Lybrand, KPMG, Price Waterhouse, Ernst and Young, Deloitte and Touche, Arthur Andersen, Grant Thornton, BDO Stoy Hayward, Pannel Kerr Forster, and Robson Rhodes and their subsidiaries and associates, during 1995 and 1996. [37316]
Mr. Burt: The information is not available.
Internet
Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to ensure that major publications from his Department are accompanied by a simultaneous electronic release of the text on the Internet. [37242]
Mr. Burt: The Department will consider the simultaneous electronic publication of all important documents on a case-by-case basis, in line with the Government's policy on open government. We will shortly be releasing corporate home pages on the Internet. These will be in addition to home pages for some of our executive agencies.
Claims (Duration)
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average duration of a benefit claim in respect of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) severe disablement allowance, (c) invalid care allowance, (d) unemployment benefit, (e) income support where the claimant is unemployed, (f) income support where the claimant is a lone parent and (g) income support where a disability premium is payable. [36904]
Mr. Burt: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
| Benefit | Average duration of claim |
|---|---|
| Sickness benefit/invalidity benefit(42) | 1 year 5 months |
| Severe disablement allowance | 7 years 11 months |
| Invalid care allowance(42) | 2 years 6 months |
| Unemployment benefit(43) | 20 weeks |
Notes:
(42) Data are not yet available for incapacity benefit. Sickness benefit, invalidity benefit and invalid care allowance claim durations are based on all claims that terminated during the 1994-95 year. Data are derived from a clerical sample of 500 invalid care allowance cases, and from a 1 per cent. sample of sickness benefit and invalidity benefit cases.
(43) Durations for unemployment benefit and income support are calculated from the number of live claims at a given point in time: for unemployment benefit this is 10 August 1995, for income support 25 August 1995. The unemployment benefit data are derived from a 5 per cent. sample of cases.
Source:
Income Support Quarterly Statistics Enquiry August 1995.
24 Jul 1996 : Column: 565
| Percentage on benefit for: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases (000) | Under 1 year | 1-2 years | 2-3 years | 3 years or over | |
| Unemployed | 1,710 | 51.5 | 16.2 | 8.8 | 23.5 |
| Disabled | 737 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 12.4 | 59.6 |
| Lone parents | 1,074 | 23.2 | 15.9 | 12.9 | 48.0 |
Note:
(44) It is not possible to calculate the average duration of income support claims as no reliable information is available on durations of claims for those people who have been in receipt of income support for relatively long periods. A full explanation is given in the introduction to the 1993 annual statistical enquiry, a copy of which is in the Library.
Source:
Income Support Quarterly Statistics Enquiry August 1995.
Income Support
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many new claims have been made for income support where the claimant has liability for a mortgage since October 1995; and how many of these have been treated as existing claims where the claimant (a) is a carer, (b) has been refused payments under a mortgage protection policy because of a pre-existing condition or because he or she is HIV positive, (c) is a lone parent and (d) is a remand prisoner. [37423]
Mr. Roger Evans: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
The changes that were introduced in October 1995 differentiated between loans taken out before 2 October 1995 (existing housing costs) and loans taken out after that date (new housing costs). Claimants in the above groups who have new housing costs have them treated as if they were existing housing costs.
The number of claimants who claimed income support for mortgage interest since October 1995, and who were still in receipt in March 1996--the latest available figure--was 73,000, of whom 71,000 had existing housing costs. The remaining 2,000 claimants had new housing costs, some of whom were treated as existing
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housing costs because they belonged to one of the specified groups.
Mr. Alan Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average number of changes of circumstances over a period of (a) three months and (b) six months for claims in respect of each of (i) incapacity benefit, (ii) severe disablement allowance, (iii) invalid care allowance, (iv) unemployment benefit, (v) income support where the claimant is unemployed, (vi) income support where the claimant is a lone parent and (vii) income support where a disability premium is payable. [36905]
Mr. Burt:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
| Average number of change of circumstances per customer: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Benefit | January-March 1996(45) | January-June 1996(46) |
| Income support | 1.25 | 2.29 |
| Invalid care allowance | 0.93 | 1.82 |
(45) Derived from income support live load figures for February 1996 and invalid care allowance live load for March 1996.
(46) Derived from income support live load figures for May 1996 and invalid care allowance live load for June 1996.
1. All live load information is a snapshot of the number of cases at a point in time. The income support live load is counted quarterly, invalid care allowance live load monthly.
Statutory Sick and Maternity Pay
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of employers he estimates will be able to recover payments of statutory sick pay under the percentage threshold scheme in 1995-96; and what percentage and amount of total spending on statutory sick pay he estimates will be borne by employers as a result. [37593]
Mr. Heald: It is estimated that around 43 per cent. of firms paying statutory sick pay were able to recover some portion of their SSP payments under the percentage threshold scheme in 1995-96.
The Government Actuary's Department estimated that in 1995-96 employers would meet around 97 per cent. of the overall cost of paying SSP to employees. This amounted to £845 million.
Mr. Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the percentage of employers who are able fully to recover payments of statutory maternity pay; and what proportion and amount of total SMP payments is borne by employers. [37592]
Mr. Heald:
It is estimated that around 38 per cent. of firms paying statutory maternity pay were able to recover payments of SMP in full in 1995-96.
The Government Actuary's Department estimated that employers would meet around 7 per cent. of the cost of
24 Jul 1996 : Column: 567
paying SMP to their employees in 1995-96. This amounted to around £35 million.
Mr. Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the average annual amounts and duration of statutory sick pay for male and female workers and the average amount and earnings-related amount of statutory maternity pay paid to female workers using data for 1992-93 from the Lifetime labour market database. [37591]
Mr. Heald:
The information relating to statutory sick pay is in the table:
| 1992-93 | Average amount of SSP payment £ | Average duration (days) |
|---|---|---|
| Men | (47)175 | (47)(1)17 |
| Women | (47)163 | (47)(1)16 |
The estimated average amount of statutory maternity pay (SMP) paid to women in 1992-93 is £1,200
(47). The earnings related element is estimated to be £700
(48)
.
(49) All figures taken from a 1 per cent. sample of SSP and SMP payments made in the UK.
(50) Figures estimated on the assumption that the standard working week is five days, and that higher rate statutory sick pay is in payment.
(51) Estimated by taking 90 per cent. of total pay and converting to weekly figure. Assumes that every payment of SMP is for a six-week period. Pay used for this estimate may not be for the same period as that used originally to calculate SMP.
Mr. Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the percentage of female employees who received statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance in the most recent available year. [37589]
Mr. Heald: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
It is estimated that around 1 per cent. of female employees at spring 1994 were in receipt of statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance.
Mr. Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the percentage of employees who received statutory sick pay or sickness benefit in the most recent available year. [37588]
Mr. Heald:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
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