| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Benefits Agency (Wales)
31. Mr. Donald Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans she has for the reorganisation of the Benefits Agency office network in Wales. [9059]
Mr. Keith Bradley: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to our hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Clwyd (Mr. Ruane) on 24 July, Official Report, columns 748-49.
Sickness Benefits
32. Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations she has received regarding the amendment of the regulations on the qualifications for payment of sickness benefits; and if she will make a statement. [9060]
Mr. Denham:
I have received a number of representations about the incapacity benefit all work test
28 Jul 1997 : Column: 105
from groups representing disabled people, other interested organisations and individuals affected. The issues raised will help enable me to consider what changes are necessary to ensure that the test provides a fair assessment of a person's incapacity for work for benefit purposes.
35. Mr. Forth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will make a statement on her plans to return lone mothers from welfare to work. [9063]
34. Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how she intends to assist the return of lone mothers from welfare to work. [9062]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
The new deal for lone parents offers help to every lone parent with school-age children to get off benefit and into work so they can provide a better life for themselves and their children. From October 1998, each lone parent will be invited into the jobcentre and, with the help of her own personal adviser, she will develop job search skills, receive training and find child care to help her into work. The new deal for lone parents began in eight parts of the country last Monday.
36. Mr. Godman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the average sum of money clawed back by the compensation recovery unit in each of the last four years under the Social Security (Recovery of Payments) Act 1997. [9064]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
The Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 comes into force on 6 October 1997. From then on, the onus for refunding benefits paid in consequence of an accident, injury or disease will rest with the compensator, but he may not do so from any part of the payment intended for pain and suffering.
| Year | Amount recovered £ million |
|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 145.50 |
| 1995-96 | 135.10 |
| 1994-95 | 110.10 |
| 1993-94 | 81.90 |
Jobseeker's Allowance
37. Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans her Department has to guarantee that nobody will have to wait more than three days before receiving the first payment of the jobseeker's allowance. [9065]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
As announced on 2 July, we will proceed with the previous Government's decision that the
28 Jul 1997 : Column: 106
number of waiting days before jobseeker's allowance becomes payable will be increased from three days to seven from April 1999.
However, we also announced a change in the way claims are paid to ensure that the maximum period anyone will have to wait before benefit becomes payable is no longer than at present.
The Government believe that work is the best form of welfare for people of working age. Our welfare-to-work objectives are to provide work incentives, reduce poverty and welfare dependency and strike a new balance between responsibilities and rights. A programme of monitoring and evaluation is under way to enable us to ensure that the jobseeker's allowance contributes to achieving our objectives. We shall also keep the individual benefit rules under active consideration as we develop our welfare-to-work plans.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is her current estimate of (a) the numbers of persons eligible for benefit who do not take up their entitlement and (b) the total value of unclaimed benefits. [9044]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
Our pensions review will examine the central areas of insecurity for today's pensioners, one in four of whom have to rely on income support or, even worse, fail to receive it.
Our latest estimate is that around one in five people eligible for up to £3.5 billion in income-related benefits do not claim. We are particularly concerned about the position of up to 1 million pensioners not claiming their apparent income support entitlement and we are commissioning research to find out why.
Mr. Grieve:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of pensioners were counted among the poorest 10 per cent. of the population in each year since 1978. [10843]
Mr. Denham:
We believe that all pensioners should share fairly in the increasing prosperity of the nation. Our first task in the review of pensions will be to reach a consensus on the long term and avoid the twists and turns in pensions policy we have seen in the last 20 years.
| Per cent. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Before housing costs | After housing cost |
| 1979 | 22 | 19 |
| 1981 | 12 | 9 |
| 1987 | 12 | 8 |
| 1988-89 | 14 | 8 |
| 1990-91 | 12 | 6 |
| 1991-92 | 11 | 5 |
| 1992-93 | 9 | 5 |
| 1993-94 | 9 | 4 |
Notes:
1. For 1988-89 to 1992-93 the information is provided for two calendar years combined; 1993-94 represents the financial years 1993-94 and 1994-95 combined.
2. The reply provides information for those in the bottom decile of the income distribution but these people may not be the poorest under other definitions.
Source:
Households below average income.
28 Jul 1997 : Column: 107
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the real terms increase in average incomes of pensioners before housing costs between 1979 and the most recent year for which figures are available; and how this compares with the increase in incomes for the population as a whole. [10841]
Mr. Denham: We believe that all pensioners should share fairly in rising national prosperity and that public finances should be both sustainable and affordable. We are examining the means of delivering more automatic help to the poorest pensioners.
Between 1979 and 1993-94, the average income of pensioners, before housing costs, rose by around 47 per cent. in real terms compared with a rise of 39 per cent. for the population as a whole.
Mr. Grieve:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of pensioners retired in (a) 1978-79 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available presently have incomes other than state benefits. [10846]
Mr. Denham:
The available information is contained in table 8 of "The Pensioners' Incomes Series 1994-95", a copy of which is available in the Library.
Ms Julie Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families receiving family credit have an allowed claim for child care costs. [10912]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
The latest figures available, as at February 1997, show there were 34,000 families receiving family credit with an allowed claim for child care costs in Great Britain.
Ms Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many families are receiving less than 70 per cent. of their allowed child care costs because they are at maximum family credit levels; [10913]
28 Jul 1997 : Column: 108
Mr. Bradley:
As at February 1997, the latest date for which information is available, 14,000 families were in receipt of maximum family credit with an allowed claim for child care costs--receiving less than 70 per cent. of their allowed child care costs.
Notes:
Source:
Households below average income datasets; 1993-94 is the latest period for which data are available. Figures for 1993-94 are for two financial years 1993-94 and 1994-95 combined; figures for 1979 are based on a single calendar year.
Note:
Pensioners have been defined as benefit units headed by a single adult of state pension age or over and benefit units headed by a couple where the man is of state pension age or over.
Source:
Family credit statistics quarterly inquiry, February 1997.
(2) how many families in receipt of maximum family credit have an allowed claim for child care costs. [10914]
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and as such are subject to a degree of sampling error.
Source:
Family credit statistics quarterly inquiry February 1997.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |