| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Benefits Spending
19. Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the increase in spending on social security benefits per head of population since 1979. [11387]
Mr. Burt: Average spending on social security benefits per head of population has increased by 79 per cent. since 1979.
Parent Plus Scheme
20. Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he plans to introduce the parent plus scheme; and if he will make a statement. [11388]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: Parents plus will be piloted in 12 areas over a three-year period starting this April, offering advice and help to up to 100,000 lone parents on income support who wish to return to work.
This is further evidence of the Government's commitment to helping lone parents into employment--successive changes to the benefits systems have already helped over 200,000 lone parents to move off income support into work since 1992.
Income Support
21. Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current proportion of children living in households dependent on income support; and what it was in 1979. [11389]
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 189
Mr. Roger Evans: The latest estimate is that 25.3 per cent. of children in Great Britain live in families receiving income support. A direct comparison with 1979 is not possible.
Notes:
1. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
2. Sample size 5 per cent.
3. Children are defined as aged 15 and under.
4. Percentages reflect the number of children in families receiving income support as a proportion of all children aged under 16 in Great Britain, based on ONS 1995 mid-term estimates of the population.
Source:
Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry May 1995.
Office of National Statistics mid-term estimates of the population 1995.
24.
Mr. Burt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) earlier today.
Mr. Roy Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the level of waste in respect of income support payments. [11371]
Mr. Evans: I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer I gave the hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mr. Gapes) earlier today.
Christmas Bonus
22. Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will review the amount of Christmas bonus paid to pensioners. [11390]
Mr. Heald: The Department has no plans to review the amount of the Christmas bonus. We have targeted help on those pensioners receiving income-related benefits, this extra help is now worth around £1.2 billion a year since 1988.
Means-tested Benefits
23. Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are currently dependent on means-tested benefits; and what the figure was in 1979. [11393]
Mr. Roger Evans: The latest estimate is that 15.04 million people live in families receiving income support, family credit, disability working allowance, housing benefit or council tax benefit. It is not possible to make a direct comparison with the position in 1979.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000.
2. Beneficiaries are defined as claimants, their partners and dependants.
3. Means tested benefits are defined as income support, housing benefit, council tax community charge benefit, family credit, and disability working allowance.
4. Disability working allowance was introduced in April 1992.
5. Council tax benefit replaced community charge benefit from April 1993.
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 190
6. Housing Benefit and Council tax benefit figures exclude cases where there is no entitlement because of non-dependent deductions.
7. Council tax benefit cases do not include second adult rebate cases.
8. Income support replaced supplementary benefit in April 1988.
9. Family Credit replaced family income supplement in April 1988.
Source:
1. Housing benefit management information system, annual 1 per cent. sample taken at the end of May 1995.
2. Family credit 5 per cent. sample of awards.
3. Disability working allowance 100 per cent. count of claims.
4. Income support statistics quarterly enquiry May 1995.
Benefit Recipients
25. Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many recipients there are of social security benefits; and how many of them are under 21 years of age. [11397]
Mr. Burt: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
| Benefit(28) | All recipients | Recipients under age 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance allowance(29) | 1,184,000 | 0 |
| Child benefit(30) | 6,980,700 | 83,500 |
| Council tax benefit(31) | 5,624,000 | 96,000 |
| Disability living allowance(29) | 1,812,000 | 219,000 |
| Disability working allowance(32) | 10,541 | 360 |
| Family Credit(33) | 693,000 | 5,000 |
| Housing Benefit(31) | 4,734,000 | 142,000 |
| Incapacity benefit(34) | 1,780,380 | 920 |
| Income support(35) | 5,710,000 | 382,000 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit(36) | 244,800 | 600 |
| Invalid care allowance(37) | 359,272 | 5,283 |
| Maternity allowance(34) | 12,160 | 760 |
| One parent benefit(30) | 993,500 | 24,600 |
| Reduced earnings allowance(36) | 150,600 | 0 |
| Retirement pension(38) | 9,722,000 | 0 |
| Severe Disablement Allowance(34) | 355,200 | 25,600 |
| Unemployment benefit(39) | 398,000 | 7,000 |
| War disablement pension(40) | 266,789 | 67 |
| War widows pension(40) | 59,611 | 2 |
| Widows benefit(38) | 290,740 | 40 |
(28) As a person can be in receipt of more than one benefit at a time, it is not possible to quantify the total number of recipients.
(29) Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and are based on a 5 per cent. sample at 30 November 1996.
(30) Figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample at 31 December 1995.
(31) Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and are based on a 1 per cent. sample at 31 May 1995.
(32) Figures are based on a 100 per cent. count at 31 July 1996.
(33) Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and are based on a 5 per cent. sample at 31 May 1996.
(34) Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample at 31 August 1996.
(35) Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and are based on a 5 per cent. sample at 24 February 1996.
(36) Figures are based on a 10 per cent. sample at 30 March 1996.
(37) Figures are based on a 100 per cent. sample at 16 January 1997.
(38) Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample at 31 March 1996.
(39) Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and are based on a 5 per cent. sample at 9 May 1996.
(40) Figures are based on a 100 per cent. sample at 31 December 1996.
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 191
Child Benefit
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on child benefit. [11692]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: Child benefit contributes £560 a year to the cost of bringing up a child, and remains the cornerstone of our policies for family support. We believe that all families with dependent children should receive some help from either the tax or the benefit system, a principle recognised throughout Europe.
Proposals put forward by the Opposition would remove this help from more than a million families whose 16 to 18-year-olds choose to stay on in full-time education.
Disabled People (Council Tax)
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consultation (a) he has had and (b) proposes to have with the disablement income group in relation to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (General) Amendment Regulations 1997; and if he will make a statement on the responses he has received from organisations of and for disabled people to the regulations.[12723]
Mr. Roger Evans: The proposals for the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (General) Amendment Regulations 1997 have been referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee for consultation. Comments have been invited from organisations and individuals who may have views on the proposals and there have been numerous responses including those from the disablement income group and other similar organisations. I shall be responding to the report of the Social Security Advisory Committee in a Command Paper which will be published in due course.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |