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SOCIAL SECURITY
Bereavement Support
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the total cost to the taxpayer
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of benefits paid to widows and widowers (1) if the benefit rules were to remain unchanged and (2) if the reforms in "Support in Bereavement" were implemented, in (a) 2002, (b) 2007, (c) 2012 and (d) 2017. [71100]
Angela Eagle:
The information is in the table.
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| Expenditure on existing widow benefit scheme without reform | Costs(+)/Savings(-) from proposals (net of means-tested benefit offsets) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002-03 | 950 | +100 |
| 2007-08 | 800 | -100 |
| 2012-13 | 800 | -200 |
| 2017-08 | 950 | -450 |
Notes:
1. Estimates for the effects of reform are presented net of means-tested benefit offsets, in line with those in "A new contract for welfare: support in bereavement". Means-tested benefit offsets were estimated using the 1995-96 Family Resources Survey and the Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiries. They assume a constant offset ratio in order to provide illustrative estimates for later years.
2. The forecast of expenditure under the existing Widows Benefit scheme together with the underlying contributory benefit effects of reform have been provided by the Government Actuary's Department.
3. Estimates provide broad orders of magnitude and are rounded to the nearest £50 million.
4. A start date of 2001-02 has been assumed.
Benefit Integrity Project
Mr. Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Benefit Integrity Project ended in Greater Manchester; what has replaced it; and how the replacement is different from its predecessor. [73547]
Mr. Bayley: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Andrew F. Bennett, dated 1 March 1999:
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Mr. Peter Bradley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications have been made to the Child Support Agency for the deferment of arrears; and how many have been granted. [73719]
Angela Eagle:
Information is not available about the number of applications for deferment of arrears. However, Child Support Agency records show that there are currently 7,647 cases, where arrears of child support maintenance have been deferred. As at 31 January 1999 the Agency had made 1,233 payments of compensation to parents with care under the deferred debt scheme.
Mr. Peter Bradley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what discussions his Department has had with the Child Support Agency over its decision not to inform non-resident parents of the Government's policy on the deferment of arrears arising from delays in the Agency's completion of assessments. [73718]
Angela Eagle:
Child Support Officers are expected to consider whether deferment of arrears should be offered in all cases where arrears of maintenance are due to delay by the Child Support Agency in completing initial maintenance assessments and periodic or change of circumstance reviews. A non-resident parent may also ask the Agency to consider deferring arrears of maintenance at any time. We are satisfied that these arrangements are sufficient to ensure that non-resident parents are offered deferment of arrears, whenever this is appropriate.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents receive Income Support, broken down by constituency. [73474]
Angela Eagle:
Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
In August 1998 there were 955,000 lone parents receiving Income Support. Reliable information by parliamentary constituency is not available at present.
Currently, the best estimate for the number of Lone Parents in each parliamentary constituency is based on the number of cases in each Local Authority area whose boundary overlaps that of the constituency. However, this will overstate the number of cases in many areas, as a single Local Authority may overlap several parliamentary constituencies.
It is anticipated that reliable constituency breakdowns for England will become available by the end of March.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many Air Miles have been earned by him and each of his Ministers; and how he proposes to use them. [73329]
Mr. Timms:
The Government's policy on the use and disposal of air miles was set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 12 January 1999, Official Report, column 141.
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Detailed information on any air miles earned by Ministers as a result of official travel is not recorded centrally.
Mr. Ennis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in the Barnsley, East and Mexborough constituency will gain from the reduction in national insurance contributions scheduled for April. [73372]
Mr. Timms:
The information is not available.
Throughout Great Britain, some 20 million people will pay an average of nearly £70 a year less in National Insurance contributions as a result of the abolition of the employee entry fee in April 1999.
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the charges which will be made for couples splitting a pension on divorce. [73551]
Mr. Timms:
Broad estimates of the charges, which private pension schemes might make for couples sharing a pension on divorce, are contained within Annexe 2 of the Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 10 February 1999. Copies of the Assessment have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total amount of money paid in cold weather payments in 1998. [73781]
Mr. Timms:
Last winter (1997-98) over 55,000 Cold Weather Payments were made at a total cost of almost £0.5 million.
To date this winter (1998-99), an estimated 26,000 payments have been made at a total cost of over £220,000.
The expenditure depends on the severity of the temperature conditions during each winter.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many state pensioners received the winter fuel allowance in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [73783]
Mr. Timms:
This winter, around 10 million eligible pensioners received a Winter Fuel Payment. Around 1.5 million of the poorest pensioners--those receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance--received their payments in November 1998. The remaining 8.5 million eligible pensioners receiving one of the other qualifying benefits received their payments during January 1999.
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking when the Benefits Integrity Project ended in Greater Manchester, what has replaced it, and how the replacement is different from its predecessor.
The Benefit Integrity Project (BIP) will end nationally on 31 March 1999 and is to be replaced by a new and fairer system. No new cases will be selected for the BIP after this date. Cases where action has already started will continue to be processed through the stages of adjudication including review and appeal.
From April, a new system of "Periodic Review" will be introduced. This will incorporate the lessons already learned from BIP, and will be fairer as it will gather information by home visits and postal enquiries across the whole range of rates and components of Disability Living Allowance (DLA). It will therefore provide for awards to be increased as well as decreased in line with entitlement.
At the outset, those DLA recipients whose cases have been examined by the BIP will be excluded from the process, as will those people in any one of the specific categories of exclusions from the BIP. People with a fixed period award due to end within the next three years will also be excluded.
The process will be evaluated after six months. The findings will be used to continue to improve the process to make it more sensitive to the circumstances of the individual concerned. Additionally, we will be testing new ways of evidence gathering for DLA claims. Discussions are taking place with disability groups to ensure that the new system is sensitive and is both fair and effective.
I hope that you have found this reply helpful.
Source:
August 1998 Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, the latest figures available.
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