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Attendance Allowance

Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lifetime awards of attendance allowance are in payment for (a) lower and (b) higher rate of benefit. [62538]

Mr. Timms: The table shows the number of awards made "for life" which were in payment at 31 May 1998. The term "for life" means that payment can be made indefinitely provided the conditions for receipt continue to be satisfied.

Attendance allowance awards made 'for life'Thousand

	Number
Higher rate	509
Lower rate	706

Source:

Analytical Services Division: 5 per cent. data

7 Dec 1998 : Column: 9

Family Credit

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the average weekly income is for families in receipt of family credit broken down between the amount received in (a) pay and (b) family credit for a one parent family with (i) one child, (ii) two children and (iii) three children. [62579]

Angela Eagle: The information is in the table.

Average weekly income of lone parent family credit recipients split by number of children, net earnings and weekly family credit

Number of children	Number of cases	Total average income from net earnings and weekly Family Credit (£)	Average net earnings (£)	Average weekly Family Credit (£)
All lone parents	377,000	152.14	92.66	59.48
1 child	194,000	143.96	93.39	50.57
2 children	128,000	155.99	93.06	62.93
3 children	43,000	169.04	90.52	78.52

Notes:

1. Figures based on a 5 per cent. sample of Family Credit awards and as such are subject to a degree of sampling error.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and may not sum due to totals.

3. Figures do not include income from other benefits, e.g. Child Benefit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

4. Figures include dependants aged 16-18 who are included in the calculation of the Family Credit award.

5. Lone parents with 1 to 3 children do not sum to the total for all lone parents as there are also lone parents with 4 or more children in receipt of Family Credit.

Source:

May 1998 Family Credit Quarterly Statistical Enquiry.

Lone Parents

Mr. Savidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many initial letters inviting lone parents to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents have been issued; how many initial interviews have been (i) booked; and (ii) carried out; how many lone parents have agreed to participate; and how many lone parents participating in the New Deal for Lone Parents have found jobs. [63091]

Angela Eagle: The New Deal for Lone Parents started running in Phase 1 in eight lead areas of the country in July 1997. A national service became available to all lone parents making a new claim for Income Support in Phase 2 in April 1998, and to all lone parents receiving Income Support in Phase 3 in October 1998.

Using the latest information from July 1997 to 23 October 1998 which covers the period to the end of Phase 2 of the New Deal for Lone Parents, the number of letters issued is 50,612; the number of initial interviews booked is 30,826; the number of initial interviews carried out is 23,300; the number of agreements to participate is 20,191, which equates to 87 per cent. of lone parents who attend an initial interview agreeing to take part in the New Deal for Lone Parents; and a total of 5,429 lone parents participating in the New Deal for Lone Parents have found jobs, which is 27 per cent. of those joining the programme.

7 Dec 1998 : Column: 10

The prototype Phase 1 of the New Deal for Lone Parents is undergoing independent evaluation. The final report comparing the outcomes for lone parents in the eight New Deal for Lone Parents prototype areas will be published in autumn 1999.

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each employment service region, how many lone parents there are (a) in total, (b) with children under five years of age and (c) with children over five years of age. [61964]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 1 December 1998]: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.

Lone parents in employment by Government Office Region,spring 1997

Government Office Region	Lone parents in employment
Great Britain	675,000
North East	30,000
North West	100,000
Yorkshire & Humberside	65,000
East Midlands	50,000
West Midlands	60,000
Eastern	60,000
London	80,000
South East	85,000
South West	45,000
Wales	40,000
Scotland	55,000

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000.

2. It is not possible to disaggregate the regional figures by age of youngest child because this will generate caseloads of below 10,000 for some regions. Caseloads below this size are based on samples which are too small to be statistically reliable.

3. The table includes all lone parents in paid employment, self-employment and on government training schemes.

4. Lone parents defined as single people with at least one dependent child. This figure will include a small number of disabled and pensioner lone parents.

Source:

Spring 1997 Labour Force Survey using household adjusted weighting factors.

Lone parents on Income Support by Government Office Region, by age of the youngest child, May 1998Thousand

		Youngest child aged
Region	All cases	Under 5	5 or over
Great Britain	961	480	482
North East	50	25	25
North West	138	70	69
Yorks & Humberside	83	43	40
East Midlands	58	30	29
West Midlands	86	44	42
Eastern	69	33	36
London	179	87	92
South East	93	46	47
South West	62	30	32
Wales	52	27	25
Scotland	90	44	45

Notes:

1. Lone parents are defined as single people with dependants who do not receive a disability or pensioner premium.

2. Figures are based on the age of the youngest child.

3. The table is based on a 5 per cent. sample.

4. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and therefore may not sum.

Source:

Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 1998.

7 Dec 1998 : Column: 11

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to review the jobseeker's allowance regulations to help unemployed people waiting to receive redundancy payments; and if he will make a statement. [62252]

Angela Eagle: We are aware that, under existing rules, if money is owed from an insolvent employer full benefit cannot always be paid to ex-employees claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and, as a consequence, many may have to rely on hardship payments until the matter is resolved.

Since this problem came to our attention we have been working to simplify the complex legislation in this area and we are currently considering proposals for changes to the relevant benefit rules.

Mr. Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of children in families on (a) supplementary benefit or income support and (b) income-based jobseeker's allowance for (i) 1997 and (ii) 1998, and for each year these as a proportion of all children in the UK. [62104]

Angela Eagle: The information is in the table.

Number and percentage of children in families on Income Support and income related Jobseeker's AllowanceThousand

	Number of children	Percentage of all children
Income Support
May 1997	2,410	19.9
May 1998	2,328	19.2
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
May 1997	436	3.6
February 1998	356	2.9

Notes:

1. The May 1998 Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Statistical Enquiry is not yet available.

2. Children are defined as aged 0 to 15.

3. Population figures are based on an estimated resident population at mid-1997 for the United Kingdom

4. Based on a 5 per cent. sample of Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance claimants and as such are subject to a degree of sampling error.

5. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Sources:

1. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 1997 and May 1998.

2. Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 1997 and February 1998 Population Estimates Unit, Office for National Statistics.

Benefits (Expenditure)

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 30 November 1998, Official Report, columns 101-02, on social security expenditure, if he will list the new economic assumptions used in the pre-Budget report; and what estimate he has made of the future levels of increases or decreases in caseload. [62643]

7 Dec 1998 : Column: 12

Mr. Darling: Forecasts of Social Security benefit expenditure in the Pre-Budget Report take into account the economic assumptions set out in Table B5 and Paragraph B9 of the Report. Estimates of future caseloads for each benefit are in the table.

Thousand

	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
Retirement Pension	10,645	10,772	10,867	10,928
Widow's Benefit	274	268	264	261
Incapacity Benefit--Short Term (LR)	118	115	117	118
Incapacity Benefit--Short Term (HR) and Long Term	1,571	1,550	1,559	1,598
Maternity Allowance	13	13	13	13
Guardian's Allowance and CSA	3	3	3	3
Non-Contributory Retirement Pension	25	24	23	23
War Pension	311	299	286	273
Attendance Allowance	1,250	1,306	1,361	1,409
Invalid Care Allowance	380	403	428	454
Severe Disablement Allowance	453	475	496	516
Disability Living Allowance	2,024	2,115	2,223	2,363
Disability Working Allowance	16	14	0	0
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and REA and RA	373	385	396	409
Industrial Death Benefit	18	17	17	16
Other II benefits	1	1	1	1
Earnings Top-up pilots	22	23	10	1
Jobseeker's Allowance-- Contribution-based	214	216	216	217
Jobseeker's Allowance-- Income-based	1,030	1,015	1,015	1,015
Income Support (IS)-- Under Age 60	2,241	2,251	2,267	2,292
of which:
IS--Short Term and Disabled	176	174	173	173
IS--Long Term and Disabled	960	1,009	1,061	1,116
IS--Families	954	914	874	836
IS--Widows and Others	148	142	148	151
Income Support-- (Elderly)	1,683	1,798	1,909	2,021
Child Benefit--Number of children	12,769	12,762	12,771	12,762
Child Benefit--Number of families	7,067	7,062	7,076	7,085
One Parent Benefit	1,037	934	850	776
Family Credit	792	607	0	0
Rent Allowance	1,789	1,845	1,925	2,025
Council Tax Benefit/CCB	5,276	5,188	5,167	5,236
Rent Rebate	2,608	2,498	2,421	2,376

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