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Housing Benefit Fraud
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many housing benefit best value inspections the Benefits Fraud Inspectorate has carried out in the current financial year; and which local authorities were inspected. [140963]
Mr. Rooker: The Best Value arrangements came into force from April this year requiring local authorities to arrange reviews of their services, including those relating to Housing Benefit. The BFI will be involved in
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inspections of those Best Value reviews that cover Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. The BFI has recently received details of those local authorities that are planning reviews over the coming year and is now involved in its first best value inspection.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to alter the appointment process for local authority fraud investigators. [141082]
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate of total benefit fraud has been made by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate for each of the local authorities which it has inspected. [141084]
Mr. Rooker: The information requested is available in the reports of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate for each local authority, which have been placed in the library. The BFI estimates are derived from calculations made in the Department of Social Security's report: National Housing Benefit Accuracy Review 1997-98, published in July 1998.
Pensioner Benefit Units
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner benefit units (a) received and (b) were entitled to but did not receive, (i) Income Support, (ii) Housing Benefit and (iii) Council Tax Benefit in 1998-99; and what percentage of all pensioner benefit units this represented. [141141]
Mr. Rooker: Estimates of the number of pensioners entitled to but not receiving income related benefits in 1998-99 will be published on 8 December in "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-up in 1998-99".
Child Benefit
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the distribution of changes in net incomes from a £5 increase in Child Benefit by (a) gross income bands, (b) equivalised gross income bands and (c) equivalised net income bands of recipient families using each band of £5,000 (i) up to £40,000 and (ii) over £40,000; and if he will make a statement. [140864]
Angela Eagle: It is not possible to provide the information requested as a wide range of assumptions would have to be made.
We are committed to eradicating child poverty in 20 years and halving it in 10. To this end, we have already taken wide-ranging action, including measures to improve family incomes and help parents into work.
Significant rises in Child Benefit now mean that £15 a week is paid for the eldest child (up by 26 per cent. in real terms since 1997) and £10 a week for all other children. The introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit alongside the National Minimum Wage guarantees families with children with one person in full-time work, a minimum income of £208 per week (from October 2000), which rises to £214 from April 2001.
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Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority
Dr. George Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has appointed a new Chairman of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority. [141293]
Mr. Darling: I am pleased to announce that following the recommendation of the selection panel I have appointed Harriet Maunsell OBE to serve as Chairman of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) for a period of five years from 1 April 2001. Mrs. Maunsell has been a member of OPRA since 1997 and was for five years Deputy Chair of the Occupational Pensions Board.
Minimum Income Guarantee
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner households and individual pensioners are (a) entitled to and (b) receiving the minimum income guarantee; to what levels these numbers are expected to increase in (i) 2001-02, (ii) 2002-03 and (iii) 2003-04; and how many, in addition to these, he expects to benefit from the pension credit in 2003-04. [141160]
Mr. Rooker: Currently around two million pensioners and pensioner couples benefit from the Minimum Income Guarantee. As a result of the measures outlined in the pre-Budget report, over two million pensioners will benefit in 2001-02, this will increase to 2.2 million in 2002-03.
From 2003 the Pension Credit will be introduced. We estimate that half of all pensioner households, comprising 5.5 million pensioners, will benefit from the Pension Credit.
- Notes:
- 1. The numbers currently receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee are based on administrative data on current claims to the Minimum Income Guarantee, from the Quarterly Statistical Enquiry for August 2000. This includes RCNH and RA cases.
- 2. We are unable to give forecasts on future MIG entitlement.
- 3. The Pension Credit is made up of the guaranteed income top-up and the savings credit.
- 4. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 cases.
- 5. Pension Credit figures have been calculated using the Policy Simulation Model for Income Related Benefits. This models the benefits system and is based on data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) for 1997-98. The FRS survey does not contain any information on RCNH or RA cases.
- 6. The Pension Credit is a new benefit and therefore we have provided estimates of entitlement.
- 7. The estimates are done on a benefit unit rather than a household basis. A benefit unit is a single pensioner or a pensioner couple. It is possible that more than pensioner benefit unit could live in the same household but in general the benefit unit is a reasonable approximation for a household for pensioners.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Knowsley, South (Mr. O'Hara) of 23 March 2000, Official Report, column 661W, if he will estimate the (a) gross and (b) net cost of raising the minimum income guarantee (i) to £92.15 a week for single pensioners and £140.55 a week for married couples in 2001, (ii) to the expected level for 2002 and (iii) to £100 a week for single pensioners and £154 a week for married couples by 2003; and if he will estimate how many more people will be eligible for the main income-related benefits at each of these levels. [139253]
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Mr. Rooker: The increases to the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) rates will benefit nearly two million pensioners. From April 2001 the new MIG rates will be £92.15 for all single pensioners-a real terms increase of £12.45 a week. The new MIG for couples will be £140.55 a week--a real terms increase of £16.65 for the poorest couples.
The expected cost of this for income-related benefits over the next three years will be around £420 million annually and is included in the forecasts of expenditure. The number of additional pensioners that will be eligible for the main income-related benefits as a result of the new MIG rates will be around 300,000 a year.
Ex-service Men
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent discussions he has had on the issue of treatment for ex-service men suffering from severe post traumatic stress disorder; and if he will make a statement. [141219]
Mr. Bayley: As with other psychological illnesses, treatment for people, including ex-service men with severe post traumatic stress disorder is a matter for the Department of Health and the National Health Service. Earlier in the year (March 2000) I launched an international, multi-disciplinary conference on "Psychological Injury: Understanding and Supporting". Among the delegates were representatives of ex-service organisations. The meeting included presentations and syndicate discussion on treatment effectiveness in post traumatic stress disorder. The proceedings will be published shortly.
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what studies his Department has undertaken on the funding of treatment for ex-servicemen suffering from a psychiatric disability. [141290]
Mr. Bayley: The Department has not undertaken any studies on the funding of treatment for ex-servicemen suffering from a psychiatric disability.
State Pension
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the reasons for the difference between the expected level of basic state pension given in the consultation paper on the Pension Credit (Cm 4900) and the expected level of basic state pension given in his answer to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead on 27 November 2000, Official Report, column 433W. [141139]
Mr. Rooker: I refer my right hon. Friend to page 19 of Chapter 4 of the Pension Credit consultation document (Cm 4900), which clearly states that all pension and benefit rates are illustrative.
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to Cm 4917, if he will update his answer on the costs of changes to pensions to the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) of 3 July 2000, Official Report, column 15W; and if he will make a statement. [138339]
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer, net of savings in means-tested benefits and of additional income tax revenue, of an increase of £5 per week in the basic state pension together with the introduction of age
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additions of £5 per week at age 75 and £10 per week at age 80 years if such a policy were to be implemented in April 2001 and was in addition to the increases already announced for that date. [139073]
Mr. Rooker: Revised estimates indicate that the gross costs of the spending proposals set out by the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) are £0.1 billion lower in 2001-02, 2002-03, 2004-05 and 2005-06 than estimated in my written answer of 3 July 2000, Official Report, column 15W. The estimate for 2003-04 is unchanged. If the consequential effects on Incapacity Benefit assumed in my answer of 3 July are excluded, the estimated gross cost is reduced further by £0.4 billion in 2001-02 and 2002-03, by £0.5 billion in 2003-04 and by £0.4 billion in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The effect of offsetting income-related benefits is to reduce costs by another £1.1 billion each year. Excluding tax effects as well reduces costs by £0.3 billion on top of that in the three years for which estimates are available.
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the additional cost in each of the next five years, (1) net of means tested benefits and taxation, of an increase in the single person's basic state retirement pension in April 2001 by (a) £5 for 75 to 79-year-olds and (b) £10 for 80-year-olds and above; [140950]
- (2) net of taxation and reduced expenditure on means tested benefits, of an increase in the basic state pension of (a) £5 for 70 to 79-year-olds and (b) £10 for those aged 80 years and over. [141140]
Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table.
| Gross cost (£ billion) | Net cost (IRB and tax savings) | Net cost (IRB only) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-02 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| 2002-03 | 2 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| 2003-04 | 2.1 | -- | 1.3 |
| 2004-05 | 2.1 | -- | 1.4 |
| 2005-06 | 2.2 | -- | 1.4 |
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion.
2. Gross costs of pension increase estimated by the Government Actuary's Department.
3. Income tax revenue estimated by the Inland Revenue, and income-related benefits savings, are estimated using the Policy Simulation Model.
4. Estimates of income tax revenue are not available beyond 2002-03.
5. Costs are given in cash terms.
6. Legislation and computer systems would not allow for the implementation of this.
7. Figures are illustrative.
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