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12 May 2003 : Column 90W—continued
Benefits
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants there were of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) incapacity benefit, (c) housing benefit and (d) lone parents on income support, in (i) May 1997 and (ii) the last year for which figures are available. [110680]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table.
| Benefit | May 1997 | May 2002 |
|---|---|---|
| Jobseeker's Allowance | 1,406,300 | 827,500 |
| Incapacity Benefit | 1,732,700 | 1,514,400 |
| Housing Benefit | 4,639,000 | 3,813,000 |
| Income Support (Lone Parents) | 1,013,500 | 856,300 |
Notes:
1. Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and Income Support figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
2. Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and Income Support figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to sampling variation.
3. Jobseeker's Allowance and Incapacity Benefit figures do not include credits only cases.
Sources:
1. Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Statistical Inquiries, May 1997 and May 2002.
2. Incapacity Benefit Quarterly Statistical Inquiries, May 1997 and May 2002.
3. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload count, May 1997 and May 2002.
4. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Inquiries, May 1997 and May 2002.
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Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what work his Department has completed on the destinations of those people leaving each of the benefits of his Department for people of working age. [110764]
Malcolm Wicks: Information on the first destination of people leaving jobseeker's allowance is included in the Office for National Statistics' monthly publication "Labour Market Trends", copies of which are in the Library. The information may also be accessed on the National Statistics website at http://www.statistics. gov.uk/products/p550.asp.
The Department is currently developing a system to collect similar information on people leaving income support and incapacity benefit. However, as this is not due to be implemented until the end of 2004, we plan to conduct a survey this summer of the destinations of people leaving income support and incapacity benefit as well as those leaving jobseeker's allowance whose destination is unknown.
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We are also well advanced in our plans to collect data from the Inland Revenue to provide information on how long people who have left working age benefits to enter work remain in employment.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list each benefit that is subject to a departmental benefit review; and for each of those benefits, what the estimated (a) percentage of customers who are receiving benefit at an incorrect rate, (b) percentage of customers receiving an underpayment, (c) percentage of customers receiving an overpayment, (d) grossed up number of customers receiving an underpayment, (e) grossed up number of customers receiving an overpayment, (f) average amount of weekly underpayment, (g) average amount of weekly overpayment, (h) grossed up annual underpayment and (i) grossed up annual overpayment is. [112337]
Malcolm Wicks: Not all of the information requested is available. However, the available information is in the following reports of departmental benefit reviews, copies of which are in the Library:
| Report | Publication date |
|---|---|
| Housing Benefit Review — Main Stage Report | January 1996 |
| Benefit Review Retirement Pension — Final Report | March 1996 |
| Benefit Review Invalid Care Allowance — Report on Main Study | July 1996 |
| Benefit Review Disability Living Allowance — Report on Main Study | February 1997 |
| Benefit Review — The Review of Child Benefit and Child Benefit (Lone Parent) 1996–97 | July 1998 |
| National Housing Benefit Accuracy Review 1997–98 | August 1998 |
| Fraud and Error in Claims to Incapacity Benefit — The Results of the Benefit Review of Incapacity Benefit | July 2001 |
| Fraud and Error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance from April 2001 to March 2002 | February 2003 |
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of households below pensionable age had no-one in work and were dependent on benefit in each of the last 30 years. [110690]
Malcolm Wicks: Information is not available for the time period requested.
The Family Resources survey can provide estimates from 1994–95 for Great Britain. This information is presented in the following table:
| Year | Workless households dependent on benefits |
|---|---|
| 1994–95 | 17 |
| 1995–96 | 18 |
| 1996–97 | 17 |
| 1997–98 | 15 |
| 1998–99 | 15 |
| 1999–2000 | 15 |
| 2000–01 | 14 |
| 2001–02 | 14 |
Notes:
1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). A consistent series is available from 1994–95. 2001–02 is the latest year for which data is available.
2. Dependent on benefits has been defined as in receipt of Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance/Unemployment Benefit, Incapacity Benefit/Invalidity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance.
3. From October 1996 Jobseeker's Allowance replaced Unemployment Benefit and Income Support for unemployed people. Recipients of those benefits were automatically transferred to JSA.
4. From April 1995 Incapacity Benefit replaced Sickness Benefit and Invalidity Benefit. Recipients of those benefits were automatically transferred to IB.
5. Working age households contain at least one adult below pensionable age.
6. Workless households contain no-one in work.
7. Benefit receipt is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to misreporting.
8. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure type, Council Tax Band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining response bias.
Source:
Family Resources Survey, Great Britain
Child Poverty
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children have been removed from poverty since 1997; how many are estimated to be living in poverty; what targets he has for reducing child poverty; and if he will make a statement on progress towards reaching those targets. [110769]
Malcolm Wicks: Poverty and social exclusion are complex and multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of peoples' lives—including their living standards, health, housing, the quality of their environment and not just low income. The fourth annual 'Opportunity for all' report published in September 2002 (Cm 5598) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy.
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In April 2002 we published 'Measuring child poverty: a consultation document' to gather views on an appropriate measure of child poverty for the long term. This consultation was very well received and we plan to publish initial conclusions in May 2003.
There is a shared Department for Work and Pensions/HM Treasury PSA target to reduce the number of children in low-income households by at least a quarter by 2004. Data for this is published in 'Households Below Average Income 1994–95 to 2001–02'. On this measure the number of children in low income fell by around half a million between 1996–97 and 2001–02. The baseline for the PSA target is 1998–99. We are making steady progress towards the target.
All publications, statistics and targets quoted in this reply are in the public domain and are available in the Library.
Disability Employment Advisers
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disability employment advisers there have been in each year since 1992. [110899]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) within Jobcentre Plus provide support to people facing the complex barriers to work associated with disabilities. They can offer help with finding work and can refer people, where appropriate, to occupational health assessments, training and the full range of Jobcentre Plus disability programmes.
The information is not available in the format requested, as figures are not collected centrally. However, we estimate there are currently around 700 DEAs employed by Jobcentre Plus (including Access to Work Advisers).
External Reports
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list (a) the title and subject, (b) the total cost to his Department and (c) the commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by his Department and its predecessors in each year since 1997. [103728]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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