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Departmental Transport
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much his Department has spent on civil servants transport in 1995-96 and 1996-97. [98716]
Mr. Bayley: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
| Year | Expenditure (£) |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 24,158,110 |
| 1996-97 | 21,147,786 |
Note:
These amounts exclude the cost of vehicles on the Department's fleet which are used exclusively for business journeys, hire cars and travel on training and boarding.
Residential Allowance
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate (a) the current number of people in receipt of residential allowance and the projections for (i) 2005, (ii) 2010 and (iii) 2015 and (b) the cost in each case, assuming uprating continues as before. [98458]
Mr. Bayley:
At May 1999, the estimated number of Income Support claimants in receipt of Residential Allowance is 195,000. The estimated annual expenditure on the Income Support Residential Allowance is £612 million.
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There are no caseload or expenditure projections available for the number of people in receipt of Residential Allowance at 2005, 2010 or 2015.
Mr. Denzil Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of households in Wales were in receipt of (a) income support and (b) family credit at the most recent date for which figures are available. [98497]
Mr. Bayley:
The information is not available in the format requested. However, it is estimated that as at May 1999, 9.8 per cent. of the adult population of Wales were in receipt of Income Support and an estimated 2.1 per cent. of the adult population of Wales were in receipt of Family Credit.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost and number of beneficiaries of increasing the capital threshold for income support entitlement from £8,000 to (a) £10,000, (b) £20,000, (c) £30,000, (d) £40,000, (e) £50,000 and (f) £60,000. [98466]
Note:
Figure is based on a 5 per cent. sample of Income Support claimants at May 1999 and is rounded to the nearest thousand.
Source:
Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, May 1999.
Sources:
1. Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, May 1999
2. Family Credit Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, May 1999.
| Income Support upper capital limit (£) | Number of beneficiaries | Income Support costs (£ million) |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 10,000 | 25 |
| 20,000 | 25,000 | 50 |
| 30,000 | 25,000 | 50 |
| 40,000 | 25,000 | 50 |
| 50,000 | 25,000 | 50 |
| 60,000 | 25,000 | 50 |
Notes:
1. The costs are based on the 1999-2000 Policy Simulation Model derived from the 1996-97 Family Resources Survey adjusted using Income Support administrative data.
2. All costs are rounded to the nearest £5 million and all numbers to the nearest 5,000.
3. All figures exclude people living permanently in residential care and nursing homes.
4. As the IS capital limits are increased above £20,000, the number of additional floaters-on is zero. This indicates that there are no potential IS cases that have capital greater than £20,000 and income (including tariff income) below the IS threshold.
Spending Revisions
Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his statement on page 157 of the pre-Budget report, if he will give figures for the effect on
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social security spending in each of the years (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02 as a result of (i) the revised assumption for unemployment, (ii) the reassessment of future rents and (iii) lower projected disability benefit caseloads. [99400]
Mr. Darling:
The information is in the table. The figures are consistent with those published in the November 1999 Pre-Budget Report, and show expenditure in Great Britain.
| 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2000-02 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revised assumption of unemployment | -1,170 | -2,200 | -2,380 |
| Reassessment of future rents | -110 | -260 | -410 |
| Lower projected disability benefit caseloads(7) | -250 | -585 | -920 |
(7) This figure covers changes in projected caseloads for Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, and Severe Disablement Allowance.
Note:
Figures rounded to the nearest £10 million
War Pensions (Disregard)
Mr. Opik: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what sum will be expended on disregarding war pensions when calculating income-related benefits for each local authority in England and Wales in the current financial year; and if he will make a statement; [99384]
- (2) what sum was expended on disregarding war pensions when calculating income-related benefits for each local authority in England and Wales over each of the last three financial years; and if he will make a statement. [99386]
Mr. Bayley: Information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available has been placed in the Library.
The table shows the amounts expended by each local authority in England and Wales, within their own discretionary schemes, when disregarding war pensions in the calculation of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit for the years 1996-97 to 1998-99, which is the latest information available. These amounts are funded from an authority's own resources.
In addition to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit expenditure by local authorities on discretionary schemes, there is further central Government expenditure on statutory disregards in Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Details of this expenditure are not available for each individual authority and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Opik:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what level of disregard is offered for claimants in receipt of war disablement or war widows pensions against income-related benefits for each local authority in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [99385]
Mr. Bayley:
The information requested is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. Hood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the outcome of the Labour and Social Affairs Council held in Brussels on 12 November; and if he will make a statement. [98507]
Ms Jowell:
I represented the Secretary of State at this meeting of the Council.
The Council discussed the employment package for the second time. Further discussion will take place at the Employment and Social Affairs Council and the Joint Council with ECOFIN on 29 November. A final version of the package is due for submission to the Helsinki European Council on 11-12 December.
The majority of the Council supported the joint Opinion of the Employment and Labour Market Committee and the Economic Policy Committee which advocated minimum change to this year's Guidelines.
The Presidency said that the text of the Joint Employment Report was now largely agreed. The Commission agreed to continue its efforts to address UK concerns over references which appear to misrepresent UK policy and were unacceptable to the UK in a text that was to be jointly agreed.
The Presidency agreed to examine any requests of delegations for further changes to their recommendations, but would do so in a manner compatible with the principles contained in the joint Opinion of the Employment and Labour Market Committee and the Economic Policy Committee.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils in class sizes of more than 30 in January 1993 and January 1994. [99580]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Primary | Secondary | |
|---|---|---|
| 1994(8) | 28.2 | 7.8 |
| 1993(8) | 26.5 | 7.4 |
(8) January each year
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