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Child Care Disregard
Mr. Alan Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people receiving non-means-tested benefits have offset part-time earnings
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against a child care disregard since November 1996; and what is his estimate of (a) the numbers gaining and (b) the annual cost. [18946]
Mr. Burt:
There is insufficient information on which to base an estimate.
Mr. Alan Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is his estimate of (a) the numbers gaining from and (b) the cost of extending invalid care allowance for (i) four weeks, (ii) eight weeks and (iii) 13 weeks after the cared-for person has died; [18948]
(2) what is his estimate of (a) the numbers who would benefit from and (b) the cost of extending invalid care allowance for (i) four weeks, (ii) eight weeks and (iii) 13 weeks after the cared-for person has entered permanent residential care. [18981]
| 4 weeks | 8 weeks | 13 weeks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated costs | £3 million | £5 million | £10 million |
| Estimated gainers | 30,000 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Notes:
1. Invalid care allowance may be payable for up to four weeks after a disabled person has entered residential care.
2. The costs and numbers of gainers from extending invalid care allowance for a period thereafter are estimated to be negligible.
3. Costs are net of impact on income related benefits in payment but assumes no change in the income-related benefit rule whereby carer premium can continue for a further eight weeks after invalid care allowance ceases.
4. Estimates of gainers are rounded to the nearest thousand, of costs of the nearest £1 million.
Source:
Invalid Care Allowance Unit records.
Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people receiving invalid care allowance have offset part-time earnings against care costs since November 1996; and what is his estimate of (a) the numbers gaining and (b) the annual cost. [18947]
Mr. Burt: There is insufficient information on which to base an estimate.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claimants of each of the (a) contributory and (b) income-related jobseeker's allowance are currently (i) single people without children, (ii) couples without children and (iii) couples with children; and what is the average duration of benefit in each case; [18975]
- (2) how many people are currently in receipt of (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) income support. [18976]
Mr. Roger Evans: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table:
Information on jobseeker's allowance is yet not available. Provisional summary findings from the November 1996 "Quarterly Statistical Enquiry" will be
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published on 20 March and more detailed analyses will be published in the summer. The findings will be placed in the Library.
| Thousands | |
|---|---|
| Number of claimants | |
| Unemployed cases | 1,495 |
| Other cases | 4,054 |
| All cases | 5,549 |
Notes:
1. Provisional jobseeker's allowance findings will include estimates of claimants by type of allowance in payment, age, sex and duration of current claim. The detailed analyses will include information on partners and dependants.
2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Sample size 5 per cent.
Source:
Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry May 1996.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the numbers of people who receive disability living allowance who also have earnings from employment. [18983]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: The estimated number of people receiving disability living allowance who also have earnings from employment is around 80,000, and for those in self-employment around 5,000.
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice he has received from the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on his proposal to abolish good causes backdating of industrial injuries disablement benefit. [18979]
Mr. Roger Evans: A copy of the letter sent by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council to the Social Security Advisory Committee concerning the backdating proposals has been placed in the Library. We intend to publish our response to the Social Security Advisory Committee's report on the proposals shortly.
Parent Plus Scheme
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what fee will be paid to private sector contractors for placing lone parents in work under the parent plus scheme; [19059]
- (2) what restrictions will apply to the type of work in which lone parents will be placed by private contractors before receiving their fee under the parent plus scheme; [19106]
(3) what fee private sector contractors will be paid for placing lone mothers in part-time work under the parent plus scheme; [19060]
(4) what period of time a lone parent will have to remain in work before a fee is paid to the contractor for placing them in work under the parent plus scheme. [19061]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
The contracting process is still underway. Details of contracts will not be finally agreed until this process is completed. It is expected that contracts will be awarded at the end of March.
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Mr. Leigh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the revised framework document for the Information Technology Services Agency. [20612]
Mr. Heald:
I have today arranged for the revised framework document for the Information Technology Services Agency to be placed in the Library. This document covers the period from January 1997 to December 1999.
Mr. Leigh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to align the rules on the backdating of benefits as provided for by the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987, and to clarify the responsibilities of claimants in providing evidence to support their claims. [20613]
Mr. Roger Evans:
I will tomorrow lay before Parliament the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 1997. The regulations will align, as far as possible, the rules on the backdating of benefit and will clarify claimants' responsibilities by requiring them to provide basic information to support their claim.
The new rules on backdating will introduce two simple rules for most benefits, allowing up to three months' backdating of late claims, and up to one month's backdating of reviews following a change in a claimant's circumstances. The new rules will apply to most benefits from 7 April 1997, but will not apply to retirement pension until 4 August 1997. Aligning the backdating rules will reduce the complexity of the social security scheme and so increase administrative efficiency. Subject to changes in how promptly people claim or ask for reviews, we estimate that the new rules will affect around 450,000 claimants and that net benefit savings of £119 million in 1997-98, £126 million in 1998-99 and £130 million in 1999-2000 will arise. There will be an initial administrative cost of £1.8 million in 1997-98, £1.1 million in 1998-99 and £0.4 million in 1999-2000 in introducing the changes.
The regulations will also require claims to income support and jobseeker's allowance from 6 October 1997 to be made on a properly completed claim form, with supporting documents as required on the form. The date of claim for benefit will be the date the claimant first contacts the Benefits Agency or the Employment Service, as appropriate, for the purpose of claiming, provided a properly completed claim is received within one month of that first date, or at or before an interview where this is required for jobseeker's allowance.
We have consulted the Social Security Advisory Committee on these proposals and copies of the statement together with its report will be placed in the Library.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of average earnings he estimates £175 constitutes at present; and what the figure will be in 2040, using the Government Actuary's assumptions about earning growth, in current prices. [19648]
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Mr. Heald:
The figure of £175 a week represents 50 per cent. of average earnings for April 1996 and is projected to represent 26 per cent. of average earnings in 2040, assuming 1.5 per cent. real earnings growth up to that year.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if people currently under 20 years old will have their basic state pension paid out of the national insurance fund when they retire under his basic pension plan. [19626]
Mr. Heald:
Whether anyone currently under 20 will be outside the new scheme will depend on the precise age limit for joining the scheme, to be determined nearer the time.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list in relation to paragraph 36 of the technical document on Her Majesty's Government's basic pension plus proposal, the gross cost of revenue forgone for every 10 years from 2000 to 2090. [19627]
Mr. Heald:
The gross costs of new rebates under basic pension plus will rise on average by £330 million in each year following implementation, reaching some £15 billion a year by 2040 or later. Reversal of timing of tax reliefs for the generation covered by basic state pension plus will more than halve the impact on public finances. Thereafter, there would be a rapid decline in public expenditure on pensions as they are met from investments funded by rebates.
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