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Pensioners
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will estimate, using the assumptions used to calculate the number of pensioners eligible for the pension credit, how many pensioner couples in 2003 will have a pre-credit weekly income (a) below £123, (b) £123 to £153, (c) £154 to £200 and (d) over £200; [140952]
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- (2) if he will estimate, using the assumptions used to calculate the number of pensioners eligible for the pension credit, how many single pensioners in 2003 will have a pre-credit weekly income (a) below £77, (b) £77 to £100, (c) £100 to £134 and (d) over £134. [140951]
Mr. Rooker: I refer my right hon. Friend to the written answer I gave him on 28 November 2000, Official Report, columns 487-88W.
Mr. Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he has taken to increase the disposable income of pensioners since 1997. [141268]
Mr. Rooker: Since 1997 we have introduced the Winter Fuel Payment, the Minimum Income Guarantee and, from April 2001, transitional arrangements for Retirement Pension. Changes to tax and benefits during this Parliament will mean that pensioner households will on average be £580 a year better off.
Our additional discretionary spending on pensioners will reach over £4 billion extra in the last year of this Parliament.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many occupational pensioners in receipt of incapacity benefit will (a) receive that benefit in full, (b) suffer a partial benefit abatement and (c) suffer a full abatement, on account of their pension. [139624]
Mr. Bayley [holding answer 23 November 2000]: Incapacity Benefit recipients who have an occupational or personal pension at the point of change (6 April 2001) will not be affected.
Existing recipients and anyone with a pension of less than £85 will not be affected.
The information on Incapacity Benefit (IB) for the next three years is as follows.
| Thousands | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partial abatement | 20 | 40 | 65 |
| Full abatement | * | 5 | 5 |
| Receiving IB in full | 1,630 | 1,635 | 1,635 |
Notes:
1. Case loads have been rounded to the nearest 5,000 and may not sum due to rounding (* denotes a case load of less than 2,500).
2. Abatements have been calculated from data taken from the 1996-97 Family Resources Survey. Case loads are consistent with September 1999 GAD forecasts of IB case loads.
Wales
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much was spent by his Department in Wales in each of the last five years on (a) the elderly, (b) people with long-term illnesses or disabilities, (c) families, (d) unemployed people, (e) children and (f) other categories of people, indicating the percentage of the budget spent on each group. [141172]
Mr. Bayley: I will write to my hon. Friend.
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much was spent on disability living allowance by his Department in Wales in each of the last five years. [141173]
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Mr. Bayley: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is the responsibility of Alexis Cleveland, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Charlie MacKinnon to Mr. Win Griffiths, dated 29 November 2000:
- The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked Alexis Cleveland to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how much was spent on disability living allowance by his Department in Wales in each of the last five years. Due to annual leave I am replying on her behalf.
- The relevant information is as follows:
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 313 |
| 1996-97 | 375 |
| 1997-98 | 421 |
| 1998-99 | 451 |
| 1999-2000 | 474 |
I hope this information is helpful.
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much of the Sure Start budget has been spent in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [141029]
Angela Eagle: We will write to the right hon. Member.
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many homes in Wales are defined as fuel poor households. [141030]
Mr. Rooker: We will write to the right hon. Member.
Benefit Fraud (Wales)
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases of benefit fraud were discovered in each constituency in Wales in each of the last five years. [140123]
Mr. Rooker: The information is not available by constituency.
We have instituted a regular series of measurement exercises to provide an up to date estimate of the level of fraud in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance. The results of this exercise are published regularly by the Government Statistical Service.
Pensioner Incomes
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the value in (a) 2030, (b) 2040 and (c) 2050 of the full basic state pension combined with a full state second pension as a percentage of the rate of minimum income guarantee, assuming that the MIG is indexed to earnings and the basic state pension and state second pension are indexed to prices from their levels announced for 2003. [140459]
Mr. Rooker: We cannot estimate this at present as the total income gained by State Second Pension recipients will be affected by the proposed Pension Credit. The value and structure of the Pension Credit so far in to the future is not yet known. This is one of the issues we are consulting on at present.
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Carers
Ms Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what financial help is available for carers who reach retirement age. [140890]
Mr. Bayley: Carers of retirement age may be entitled to a number of social security benefits depending on their individual circumstances, primarily retirement pension and income related benefits including the Minimum Income Guarantee.
Entitlement to Invalid Care Allowance, if determined before age 65, continues afterwards, which allows many low income carers to continue to benefit from the carer premium paid as part of the income related benefits.
On 3 October, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security, announced the intention to extend the opportunity to claim Invalid Care Allowance to carers aged over 65 years. Some older carers will thereby be able to receive Invalid Care Allowance for the first time, and many more carers on low incomes will hence gain access to the carer premium. We intend to introduce this change as soon as the legislative timetable permits.
My right hon. Friend also announced on 9 November that the carer premium will be increased by £10 a week on top of the normal uprating from April 2001, an increase of over 70 per cent.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) at what age the Invalid Care Allowance ceases for (a) a woman caring for a sick husband and (b) a man caring for a sick wife; [140767]
- (2) what steps he is taking to ensure that provision for carers of Alzheimer patients continues after the carers reach pensionable age. [141170]
Mr. Bayley: The rules for Invalid Care Allowance (ICA) are the same for men and women. For people under 65, entitlement to ICA continues for as long as the conditions of entitlement are met. Entitlement, once determined, continues beyond age 65.
The rules relating to overlapping benefits mean that after state pension age (65 for a man and 60 for a woman), Invalid Care Allowance may no longer be payable, or payable in full, if Retirement Pension is in payment.
On 3 October, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security announced the intention to extend the opportunity to claim Invalid Care Allowance to over-65-year-old carers. Some older carers will thereby be able to receive Invalid Care Allowance for the first time, and many more carers on low incomes will hence gain access to the carer premium. We intend to introduce this change as soon as the legislative timetable permits.
My right hon. Friend also announced on 9 November that the carer premium will be increased by £10 a week on top of the normal uprating from April 2001, an increase of over 70 per cent.
Disabled People
Mr. Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the measures in his welfare reform programme which will assist disabled people to take up work. [141224]
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Mr. Bayley: The New Deal for Disabled People is a joint initiative between this Department and the Department for Education and Employment which has been testing a range of approaches--a personal adviser service, innovative schemes and benefit changes--to find out which approaches are more helpful for disabled people.
We have announced that a national network of Job Brokers will be set up to offer people receiving incapacity benefits the support, guidance and preparation they need to find paid work and move off benefit dependence.
Budget 2000 also announced plans to test the effectiveness of helping people when they become ill in work, with job retention and rehabilitation pilots. These pilots, beginning from 2001, will test the effectiveness of early work-focused help, involving health, employment and other services.
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