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Home Responsibilities Protection
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many carers have received Home Responsibilities Protection since 1978. [103076]
Mr. Bayley: No reliable information is available on the numbers of non-child carers without Invalid Care Allowance who were either entitled to or claimed Home Responsibilities Protection over the years back to 1978.
Industrial Injuries
Mr. Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many people received industrial injuries disablement benefit in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999; and what was the total cost of industrial injuries disablement benefit in each of those years; [102305]
- (2) how many claims for industrial injuries disablement benefit were paid in respect of stress-related disablement in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999 to date. [102306]
Mr. Bayley:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
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| IIDB | Expenditure |
|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 685 |
| 1997-98 | 690 |
| 1998-99 | 706 |
Note:
Expenditure for 1997 and 1998 has been taken from the Departmental Report (ISBN 0-10-142312-8). Expenditure for 1999 has been taken from the Pre Budget Report.
Source:
DSS (Analytical Services Division).
| IIDB | All accidents | Mental and behavioural disorders |
|---|---|---|
| At 5 April 1997 | 212,000 | 700 |
| At 4 April 1998 | 217,000 | 700 |
Notes:
1. These figures are based on a 10 per cent. sample of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and include an adjustment for late statistical returns. Figures for 1998 are provisional.
2. Figures have been rounded.
3. Mental disorder is recorded in relation to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.
4. Figures for 1999 are not yet available.
Source:
DSS (Analytical Services Division)
Child Support
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the total amount of child support maintenance owed, broken down between debts of people who have not yet paid anything and those who have made some payments. [100911]
Angela Eagle: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mrs. Faith Boardman to Mr. David Willetts, dated 20 December 1999:
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I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
Unfortunately, CSA does not have the information to answer the question in the way you require. We do not separate debt according to the compliance status of the debtor. However, I can give the information we do hold which may assist you.
The Committee of Public Accounts Session 1995/96 were concerned that the Agency had been unable to estimate the value of uncollectable debt, and advised that the Agency should " . . . examine the scope for eliminating a significant amount of this debt since it is unlikely ever to be collected . . . ". To address this problem on 31 March 1996 a debt evaluation exercise was undertaken; this exercise is now repeated on an annual basis.
The exercise itself, undertaken by Agency staff, identifies that part of the debt that is probably uncollectable, the results are validated by Analytical Services Division and removed to show a
more realistic debt position. This change was introduced in 1997/98 and was included in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts for that year.
I hope this is helpful.
State Earnings-related Pension Scheme
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will establish the consultation group on inherited rights to SERPS for widows and widowers after 6 April 2000; and if this group will be established before regulations made under the Welfare Reform and Pension Act 1999 are published. [103322]
Mr. Rooker: We will be making further announcements on inherited SERPS shortly.
Child Benefit
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of doubling the rate of child benefit (a) for each child aged under five years and (b) for the youngest child aged under five years, assuming (i) corresponding increases in child rates of means-tested benefits and (ii) no corresponding changes in means-tested benefit rates. [103147]
Angela Eagle: The information requested is in the table.
| Age of child | Corresponding increase in means-tested benefits | No corresponding change in means-tested benefits |
|---|---|---|
| All children under 5 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| All subsequent children under 5 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million and are in 2000-01 prices.
2. Assumes an April 2000 start date.
3. Estimates of the child benefit cost have been based on figures taken on the August 1999 5 per cent scan of the child benefit computer system.
4. Estimates of the Income Support (IS) and Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) offset have been calculated from the August 1999 5 per cent. scans of the IS and JSA computer systems.
5. Estimates of the Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) offsets have been calculated from the May 1998 1 per cent. sample of all live HB and CTB claims.
6. The costs have been calibrated to the forecasts of the 2000-01 benefit caseload forecasts, which underpin the 1999 pre-budget report.
7. For lone parents still in receipt of the lone parent rate of child benefit the answer assumes that their new rate will be set equal to the couple's rate of benefit after doubling.
8. The answer assumes that the increases no longer apply once a child reaches the age of 5.
9. The answer assumes for (b) that the reference to youngest child means all subsequent children under 5.
Means-tested Benefits
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to propose a statutory obligation to uprate means-tested benefits in line with inflation. [103192]
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Angela Eagle:
We have no plans to change the existing legislative arrangements.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the (a) cost in the next five years and (b) eventual cost of re-introducing a lone parent premium within the means-tested benefits system for those lone parents with a child aged under five years, to apply immediately to all existing recipients. [103141]
Angela Eagle:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
| Year | Cost per annum |
|---|---|
| 2000-01 | 10 |
| 2001-02 | 20 |
| Long-run | 50 |
Notes:
1. Costs have been rounded to the nearest £10 million.
2. Assumes a long parent premium in year 1--April 2000--of £1.65 (this is the difference between the April 2000 rate of Family Premium for Lone Parents (£15.90) and the standard rate of family premium (£14.25).
3. Lone parent premium is assumed to be subsequently uprated by the ROSSI index.
4. The long-run cost has been expressed in current prices. Because we do not have forecasts of the long-run IS lone parent caseload we have based it on the IS lone parent caseload as in 2000-01.
5. Assumes that the lone parent premium will only be paid to lone parents who have a child aged under five years old.
6. Caseloads are consistent with forecasts underlying the 1999 pre-budget report.
7. Estimates of the Income Support (IS) and Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) costs have been calculated from the August 1999 5 per cent. scans of the IS and JSA computer systems.
8. Estimates of the Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) costs have been calculated from the May 1998 1 per cent. sample of all live HB and CTB claims.
9. Forecasts of the IS lone parent caseload are not available beyond 2001-02.
Low-income Households
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for each of the years 1982 to 1998, what was the number of people in households where one or more adults were in paid work where the income is below half mean income; what was the estimated number of children in these households; and what were the numbers living in families headed by (a) a lone parent and (b) a couple. [102843]
Angela Eagle: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
The latest information relates to the financial year 1997-98.
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Notes:
1. The information comes from the "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) series. The estimates are presented on household income both Before Housing Costs and After Housing Costs in line with HBAI conventions. All the estimates in the table relate to families with an adult in paid work rather than households with an adult in paid work.
2. People living in families which include a self-employed adult have been included in the tables. Self-employment income data is known often to be a poor guide to households' living standards. In 1997-98, around 600,000 to 700,000 of the children in households below half average income had a full-time self-employed person in the household.
3. The column headed "Total people in couple families" does not include couples without children.
4. The estimates based on the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) are for the United Kingdom. For 1988-89 and subsequent years, two years' data have been combined to improve the robustness of the results. For 1994-95 onwards, estimates are available from the larger Family Resources Survey (FRS) and relate to single financial years. The FRS results are for Great Britain.
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