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Lone Parents
Ms Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents in each constituency in Wales were in receipt of income support on 31 December 1997 or the nearest date for which figures are available; and how many children lived in such lone parent families on the same date. [28893]
Mr. Keith Bradley: The administration of Income Support is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Ms Julie Morgan, dated 24 February 1998:
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 302
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many lone parents in each constituency in Wales were in receipt of Income Support (IS) on 31st December 1997 or the nearest date for which figures are available; and how many children live in such lone parent families on the same date.
The information is not available in the format requested. The Benefits Agency (BA) collates statistics by BA District and these Districts do not correspond to constituency boundaries or specific geographical areas.
The BA does not routinely collate information relating to the number of children who live in lone parent families who are in receipt of IS. However, the departmental quarterly statistical enquiry provides the number of dependants within lone parent families in Wales.
The available information is shown in the attached table. The information is provisional and may be subject to change.
I hope this reply is helpful.
| Benefits Agency Districts in Wales | Number of IS customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of family premium as 30 November 1997 (13)(14) | Number of dependents within the households of those IS customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of family premium as at May 1997 (13), (14)(15) |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff and Vale | 8,911 | 18,000 |
| Gwent Borders | 6,243 | 12,000 |
| Gwyneddigion Maldwyn | 4,239 | 8,000 |
| South Wales Valleys | 14,807 | 29,000 |
| South West Wales | 11,501 | 21,000 |
| Wrexham and North West Coast | 7,266 | 14,000 |
(13) This information relates to the number of customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of the Family Premium (formerly known as the Lone Parent premium).
(14) The figures represent a snapshot in time and do not include those lone parent customers who are pensioners nor those registered sick who qualify for a higher rate premium such as a pensioner or disability premium.
(15) Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand and subject to a degree of sampling error (sample size 5 per cent.).
(16) These figures do not include those lone parent customers who are pensioners nor those registered sick who qualify for a higher rate premium such as a pensioner or disability premium.
(17) Dependants are aged 0-18 years.
Notes:
BA's Cardiff and Vale District includes the offices of Barry, Cardiff Central, Cardiff East and Cardiff West.
BA's Gwent Borders District includes the offices of Cwmbran and Newport.
BA's Gwyneddigion Maldwyn District includes the offices of Aberystwyth, Caernarfon, Dolgellau, Holyhead, Llangefni, Newtown and Porthmadog.
BA's South Wales Valleys District includes the offices of Aberdare, Bargoed, Blackwood, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Porth and Tonypandy.
BA's South West Wales District includes the offices of Ammanford, Carmarthen, Gorseinon, Haverford West, Llandeilo, Llanelli, Morriston, Neath, Pembroke Dock, Pontardawe, Port Talbot and Swansea.
BA's Wrexham and North West Coast District includes the offices of Colwyn Bay, Deeside, Rhyl and Wrexham.
The information is the latest available, is provision and maybe subject to change.
Benefit Integrity Project
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individuals in Bury, North have been contacted as part of the Benefit Integrity Project; how many of them have had their benefit reduced; and how many appeals have been made against these decisions. [28700]
Mr. Denham:
One of our key aims is to rebuild integrity in, and public support for, the Social Security system and the way in which public money is spent. Benefits should go to those who are properly entitled to benefit. This is why we have continued with the Benefit Integrity Project.
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 303
The administration of this programme is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend with further details.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. David Chaytor, dated 24 February 1998:
Mr. Swinney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to her answer of 9 February 1998, Official Report, columns 75-76, on the Benefit Integrity Project, if it is her policy to re-examine all benefit reductions made to date under the Benefit Integrity Project on the basis of evidence provided solely by the claimant; if she will require the additional evidence to support a decision to include an independent medical test where requested; and if she will make a statement. [29759]
Mr. Denham
[holding answer 16 February 1998]: On 9 February the Secretary of State announced that we have taken action to improve the quality of decisions made by the Project which involve a reduction or removal of benefit. No decision resulting in reduction or removal of entitlement to DLA will be made solely on the evidence provided by the claimant--there will always be additional evidence to support the decision.
One of our key aims is to rebuild integrity in, and public support for, the Social Security system and the way in which public money is spent. Benefits should go to those who are properly entitled to benefit. This is why we have continued with Benefit Integrity Project.
The administration of this programme is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with further details.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. John Swinney, dated 24 February 1998:
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 304
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding how many individuals in Bury North have been contacted as part of the Benefits Integrity Project (BIP) and how many of them have had their benefit reduced; and how many appeals have been made against these decisions.
The information is not available in the format requested. The comprehensive database of casework has not been designed to extract information geographically during the project. To do so would necessitate high cost and disruption to the processing of ongoing casework. Once the casework has been completed a full evaluation of the data is planned to provide a variety of trend analyses, including geographical, to inform any change to the benefit which may be considered necessary at that time.
However, as at 31 December 1997, a total 40,615 cases, have been examined as part of the BIP. Of the total cases dealt with 978 have had their benefit increased, 31,920 have been unchanged and 7,717 have had their benefit reduced/stopped. The total includes 7,462 renewal cases; of which 242 had their benefit increased, 3,868 remain unchanged and 3,352 have had their benefit decreased.
A total of 311 appeals have been received.
A brief monthly statistical report is produced and a copy of the report for December 1997 and subsequent months can be found in the House of Commons Library.
I hope you find the reply helpful.
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question in pursuant to her Answer of 9 February, Official Report, columns 75-76, on the Benefit Integrity Project (BIP) and, if it is the policy to re-examine all benefit reductions made to date under the BIP on the basis of evidence provided solely by the claimant; if she will require the additional evidence to support a decision to include an independent medical test where requested.
DLA is a complex benefit. It is not compensation for disability. Entitlement is determined by the effect of a disability on a person's need for help with personal care and getting around and even awards made "for life" are conditional on continuing to meet the eligibility criteria for that award. If any customer disagrees with a DLA decision that has been made, a review or appeal can be requested.
From 9 February, no case likely to result in the reduction or removal of benefit will be passed to an Adjudication Officer (AO) for review without further evidence in addition to that supplied by the customer on the BIP questionnaire. This extra safeguard is to improve confidence in the decisions made by the BIP and to help safeguard the position of severely disabled people.
There is no reason to believe that previous decisions are incorrect therefore, there are no plans to re-examine all benefit reductions made to date under the BIP. However in cases which have been reviewed as a part of the BIP, if the decision was reached solely on the basis of what the customer told us on the BIP questionnaire, additional further evidence will be required before the case is passed to the AO for a decision.
Further evidence to seek amplification of a customer's care and mobility needs may include factual medical evidence from a GP or hospital, a full examination or information from carers. the source of the additional evidence will be determined by the individual circumstances of the case.
I hope you find the reply helpful.
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