| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Child Maintenance
Lady Olga Maitland: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what new legislation he intends to introduce so that parents with care on benefit derive direct advantage from the child maintenance that they receive. [6137]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: I have today laid before Parliament regulations which introduce a new scheme called the child maintenance bonus. This scheme will allow parents with care on income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance who are also receiving child maintenance to build up a weekly credit of £5--or the weekly amount of maintenance, if less--towards a lump sum of up to £1,000, payable when they leave benefit for work. Subject to the approval of Parliament, the scheme will begin on 7 April 1997.
This new initiative will provide a direct cash benefit for parents with care from maintenance they receive, enhancing the incentive for them to find employment while also encouraging compliance with the Child Support Agency among both parents with care and absent parents.
I have also today laid a package of regulations which make a number of miscellaneous amendments to child support regulations to simplify and speed up the handling of applications. This package includes a measure to increase the effectiveness of reduced benefit directions and a regulation which defers the re-introduction of fees for the services of the Child Support Agency until April 1999.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners who depend (a) wholly and (b) very largely on state pension, broken down by (i) standard region of England, (ii) England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Scotland and (v) the United Kingdom; and in each case what are the figures as a percentage of the population of that area. [5017]
Mr. Heald:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
| Pensioner units | Numbers | Proportion of all pensioner units per cent. | Proportion of overall population (benefit units) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wholly Dependent | 150,000 | 2 | Negligible |
| "Very Largely Dependent" (75 per cent. + per cent.) | 1,600,000 | 23 | 5 per cent. |
Notes:
1. For the purposes of this reply, the term "very largely dependent" has been interpreted to mean those pensioner units who receive 75 per cent, or more of their income from state pensions.
2. For the purposes of this reply, "state pensions" includes retirement pension, widows benefits, incapacity benefit and unemployment benefit for those over state pension age. The estimates include SERPS and graduated retirement benefit.
3. Estimates of numbers of pensioner units are shown to the nearest 50,000. Percentages are shown to the nearest whole percentile. Any estimate of less than 25,000 or less than 0.5 per cent. is labelled negligible. The estimate of the proportion of the entire population is an estimate of the proportion of the total number of benefit units, as defined in the households below average income series. A benefit unit is defined as being either a single person or a couple, including any children aged 16 years or under and single children in full time education aged 16 to 18. A pensioner unit is defined as being a single person over state pension age, or a couple where the husband is over state pension age.:
Source: Pensioners' incomes series 1993, based mainly on data from the 1993 family expenditure survey.
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 110
Anti-fraud Campaign
Mr. Stott: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much money has been allocated to the Benefits Agency in Wigan in order to fund the Spotlight on Benefit Cheats campaign. [5268]
Mr. Heald: The total estimated cost for all 14 current locations and the associated publicity is £3 million. We estimate that costs (excluding publicity) for spotlight activities in the Wigan area is £160,000.
Mr. Stott: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many areas of the country the Spotlight on Benefit Cheats campaign is running. [5267]
Mr. Heald: The Spotlight on Benefit Cheats campaign is currently running in 14 areas of the country.
Employment Contracts
Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (a) full-time jobs, (b) part-time jobs, (c) full-time jobs which are on (i) renewable and (ii) unrenewable fixed-term contracts, (d) part-time jobs which are on (i) renewable and (ii) unrenewable fixed-term contracts, (e) temporary jobs and (f) jobs classified as casual there have been in (1) his Department and (2) executive agencies of his Department for each year since 1992. [5421]
Mr. Burt: The information is not readily available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Such information as is available is in the tables.
| Date | Classification | Total | Benefits Agency | Child Support Agency | Contributions Agency | Information Technology Services Agency | Resettlement Agency | War Pensions Agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 1992 | Full-time permanent staff | 73,325 | 58,659 | -- | 7,668 | 3,973 | 432 | -- |
| Part-time permanent staff | 9,904 | 8,210 | -- | 1,277 | 197 | 60 | -- | |
| Casual staff | 3,103 | 2,563 | -- | 201 | 219 | 22 | -- | |
| 1 April 1993 | Full-time permanent staff | 78,779 | 59,335 | 2,649 | 8,566 | 3,986 | 338 | -- |
| Part-time permanent staff | 12,091 | 9,441 | 576 | 1,608 | 165 | 41 | -- | |
| Casual staff | 4,736 | 3,486 | 42 | 344 | 501 | 23 | -- | |
| 1 April 1994 | Full-time permanent staff | 80,212 | 58,423 | 4,303 | 9,077 | 3,903 | 259 | 1,426 |
| Part-time permanent staff | 13,843 | 10,947 | 897 | 1,487 | 190 | 34 | 137 | |
| Permanent staff with fixed-term contracts | 2,711 | 1,594 | 138 | 543 | 270 | 36 | 58 | |
| Casual staff | 5,762 | 4,109 | 519 | 212 | 611 | 51 | 154 | |
| 1 April 1995 | Full-time permanent staff | 79,354 | 58,918 | 5,256 | 7,880 | 3,433 | 125 | 1,199 |
| Part-time permanent staff | 15,260 | 11,964 | 1,140 | 1,587 | 162 | 14 | 156 | |
| Permanent staff with fixed-term contracts | 3,166 | 2,441 | 79 | 121 | 414 | 21 | 23 | |
| Casual staff | 5,086 | 3,616 | 207 | 501 | 387 | 5 | 264 | |
| 1 April 1996 | Full-time permanent staff | 80,310 | 62,480 | 5,666 | 6,615 | 1,893 | -- | 1,084 |
| Part-time permanent staff | 16,964 | 13,809 | 1,305 | 1,323 | 96 | -- | 174 | |
| Permanent staff with fixed-term contracts | 4,583 | 3,595 | 352 | 163 | 273 | -- | 51 | |
| Casual staff | 4,633 | 3,206 | 285 | 574 | 367 | -- | 74 | |
(72) The Child Support Agency was launched on 1 April 1993.
(73) The War Pensions Agency was launched on 1 April 1994.
(74) The Resettlement Agency ceased to exist on 31 March 1996.
(75) Staff on fixed-term contracts are included in the numbers of permanent staff.
(76) All non-permanent staff are classified as casuals.
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 111
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 111
Fishermen
Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what consultations he has had with the fishing industry about the impact of the jobseeker's allowance on those who previously claimed unemployment benefit following the detention of vessels in port as a result of bad weather or repairs; [5589]
- (2) what plans he has to exempt fishermen from the jobseeker's allowance in order to allow them to claim unemployment benefit when their vessel is detained in port due to bad weather or repairs; [5590]
(3) what steps are being taken to help fishermen who find themselves unable to work as a result of (a) bad weather at sea and (b) damage to their boat. [5591]
Mr. Roger Evans: Share fishermen have a unique position in the benefit system. They pay a special higher rate of class 2 national insurance contributions. This gives them access to contribution-based jobseeker's allowance in the same way that they previously had access to unemployment benefit. They are the only group of claimants given such special access. This special treatment dates back many years and is in recognition of
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 112
the hazardous and arduous nature of the work share fishermen do and because fishing quotas and bad weather give them an irregular income.
The Government have introduced for share fishermen a package of special rules in contribution-based jobseeker's allowance which are designed to ensure that they are in a broadly similar financial position to the one that they enjoyed under unemployment benefit. These special rules were developed after detailed discussions with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
The special rules include an exemption from the 16-hour weekly remunerative work limit, without which they would lose benefit as soon as they worked for more than 16 hours. Share fishermen are also exempt from the rules under which high earnings can be averaged across a period so that they affect benefit in a number of weeks, rather than simply on one occasion. Most jobseeker's allowance claimants have £5 of their part-time earnings disregarded. However, share fishermen benefit from a higher, £15, earnings disregard.
This whole package of special rules clearly illustrates how far the Government have gone in jobseeker's allowance to ensure that share fishermen continue to receive special treatment. The rules are specifically
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 113
designed to provide share fishermen with the necessary financial support for those periods when they are unable to fish because of factors such as bad weather or damage to their boat.
Fishermen who are paid employees are treated in the same way as other jobseekers.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |