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28 Mar 2006 : Column 930W—continued

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Payment

Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is the Government's intention that eventually all distinctions should be abolished between the benefits paid to people who are capable of work and those who are incapable of work. [60625]

Mr. Plaskitt: We want a simpler and more transparent benefits system and aim to remove any distinctions that are not necessary to reflect real differences in capacity to work or financial need. Our Green Paper, A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work" set out our longer-term vision of a
 
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single gateway to financial and back to work support for all claimants and a single system of working age benefits, with appropriate additions for people who have a long-term illness or disability.

Benefit Recipients

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) housing benefit and (b) council tax benefit recipients are in receipt of earned income. [61051]

Mr. Plaskitt: The most recent available information is for May 2004; at that date, there were 300,000 housing benefit households and 277,000 council tax benefit households declaring earned income.

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) housing benefit and (b) council tax benefit recipients are in receipt of incapacity benefit at (i) the short term lower rate, (ii) the short term higher rate and are terminally ill, (iii) the short term higher rate and are not terminally ill and (iv) the long term rate. [61052]

Mr. Plaskitt: Information is not available broken down to identify those with terminal illnesses. The most recent available information is in the table.
Housing benefit and council tax benefit households declaring an income from incapacity benefit; by rate of incapacity benefit: Great Britain, May 2004

Rate of incapacity benefit	Housing benefit	Council tax benefit
Short term—lower	22,000	26,000
Short term—higher	21,000	27,000
Long term	368,000	440,000

Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Housing benefit and council tax benefit data refers to households and may be a single person or a couple.
3. Housing benefit figures exclude any Extended Payment cases.
4. Council tax benefit figures exclude any Single Adult Rebate cases.
5. Figures refer to cases where the claimant and/or partner have income declared from incapacity benefit but they exclude credits-only incapacity benefit cases.
Source:
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2004.

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Torbay unitary authority and (b) Torbay parliamentary constituency received (i) housing benefit, (ii) income support and (iii) council tax benefit in each year since 1997. [61511]

Mr. Plaskitt: Housing benefit and council tax benefit information is not available broken down by parliamentary constituency. The available information is in the tables.
Housing benefit and council tax benefit recipients in the Torbay council area: each August from 1997 to 2005

	Housing benefit	Council tax benefit
1997	10,400	13,500
1998	10,400	13,300
1999	9,200	12,000
2000	9,100	12,000
2001	9,100	12,100
2002	9,100	12,100
2003	9,500	12,500
2004	9,700	13,400
2005	9,700	13,700

Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.
2. HB/CTB data refer to households and may be a single person or a couple.
3. HB figures exclude any extended payment cases.
4. CTB figures exclude any single adult rebate cases.
Source:
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. case load stock-count taken between August 1997 and August 2005.





 
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Income support recipients in the Torbay council area and in the Torbay parliamentary constituency: each August from1997 to 2005

	Torbay council	Torbay parliamentary constituency
1997	6,400	4,800
1998	6,300	4,800
1999	6,000	4,600
2000	5,900	4,500
2001	6,000	4,600
2002	5,900	4,600
2003	5,900	4,600
2004	5,800	4,500
2005	5,700	4,400

Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
2. Figures for 1997 and 1998 have been derived by applying 5 per cent. proportions to 100 per cent. WPLS totals.
3. Pension credit replaced minimum income guarantee (MIG) on 6 October 2003. MIG cases have been excluded from the figures to keep the time series consistent.
Source:
DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) and Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.

Benefits (Transitional Relief)

Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on which occasions since 1990 transitional relief has been provided as part of a benefit rule change. [60226]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Council Tax

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made using the Government's standard measure of the number of households paying council tax which are in poverty; [56889]

(2) what estimate he has made using the Government's standard measure of the number of children in poverty who are in council tax paying households. [56890]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 8 March 2006]: The seventh annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 6673) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of indicators. The report includes headline indicators on the number and proportion of children and adults living in low income households, also published in Households Below Average Income 1994–95—2004–05", available in the Library.
 
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The figures given in the tables show people who are paying any amount of council tax, many of them will be receiving some council tax benefit but not the full amount.
 
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(i) The estimate of the number of households that report paying council tax, with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median—a measure of 'relative' low income—are presented in the table.
Number of households with incomes less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median paying council tax, 2004–05, Great Britain

	Paying council tax and in relative low income	All relative low income households	All households
Before housing costs	2,800,000	4,100,000	24,600,000
After housing costs	3,100,000	4,800,000	24,600,000

The estimate of the number of households that report paying council tax, with incomes below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 GB median—a measure of 'absolute' low income—are presented in the table.
Number of households with incomes less than 60 per cent. of 1996–97 median paying council tax, 2004–05, Great Britain

	Paying council tax and in absolute low income	All absolute low income households	All households
Before housing costs	1,800,000	2,400,000	24,600,000
After housing costs	1,900,000	3,000,000	24,600,000

(ii) The estimate of the number of children living in households that report paying council tax, with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median—a measure of 'relative' low income—are presented in the table.
Number of children living in households with incomes less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median paying council tax, 2004–05,Great Britain

	Paying council tax and in relative low income	All relative low income households	All children
Before housing costs	1,500,000	2,400,000	12,600,000
After housing costs	1,900,000	3,400,000	12,600,000

The estimate of the number of children living in households that report paying council tax, with incomes below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 GB median—a measure of 'absolute' low income—are presented in the table.
Number of children living in households with incomes less than 60 per cent. of 1996–97 median paying council tax, 2004–05, Great Britain

	Paying council tax and in absolute low income	All absolute low income households	All children
Before housing costs	900,000	1,400,000	12,600,000
After housing costs	1,100,000	1,900,000	12,600,000

Notes:
1. Households 'paying council tax' includes households in receipt of a partial council tax benefit award.
2. Figures rounded to the nearest 100 thousand.
3. Incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median is a measure of 'relative' low income.
4. Incomes below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 GB median—a measure of 'absolute' low income.
Source:
Family Resources Survey

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