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28 Mar 2006 : Column 934W—continued
Departmental Policies
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Islington, South and Finsbury constituency, the effects on Islington, South and Finsbury of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [60737]
Margaret Hodge: We have undertaken a fundamental overhaul of the welfare system, transforming it to an active system that fights poverty, creates opportunity and helps people become self-sufficient and independent.
Since 2001, the Government have significantly extended and improved civil rights for disabled people in areas such as employment, education, access to goods and services and transport. Disabled people in Islington South and Finsbury will have benefited from these improvements in disability rights. Similarly, families with severely disabled three and four-year-old children who are unable, or virtually unable to walk will have benefited from the Government's decision to lower the minimum age entitlement to the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance from April 2001, while older and less well off carers have gained extra help through the provisions within the National Carers Strategy.
In 2004–05 we estimate there were over 10 million disabled people (around 9.7 million adults and 0.7 million children) in Great Britain. All of these people would meet the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
The figures can be broken down to regional level which show that 15 per cent. of adults and 5 per cent. of children in London are disabled.
Information on the numbers of customers in Islington South and Finsbury who are in receipt of disability living allowance (DLA) and attendance allowance (AA) is in the following table.
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| Percentage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operational year | ||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| DLA recipients | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| AA recipients | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and are displayed in thousands.
2. DLA is from a 100 per cent. sample at 31 August each year.
3. AA is from a 5 per cent. sample at 31 August each year.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate.
Through Jobcentre Plus, we are promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age. Since 1997 the number of people claiming as unemployed in Islington South and Finsbury has fallen by 47 per cent. and the number of long-term unemployed by 81 per cent.
Our new deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, disabled people, the over 50s and partners of unemployed people to move from benefit into work. Nationally over 1.5 million people have been helped into work by the new deals, with over 3,000 in Islington South and Finsbury alone.
Significant progress has been made in tackling child poverty. Since 1998–99 the number of children in relative low-income households fell by 700,000 from 3.1 million to 2.4 million on a Before Housing Costs (BHC) basis and 700,000 from 4.1 million to 3.4 million on an After Housing Costs (AHC) basis.
Since 2001–02 incomes for lone parents in receipt of benefit have risen by more than prices or the cost of living. Child rates in income support and jobseeker's allowance have been increased by 40 per cent. since 2001–02, increasing above inflation in April 2005 in line with child tax credit upratings. All of this has benefited 4,100 families in Islington South and Finsbury.
We want all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement and to share fairly in the rising prosperity of the country and our first priority has been to help the least well off pensioners. The Government will be spending over £10 billion extra in 2006–07 on pensioners as a result of measures introduced since 1997. Almost half of this spending going to the least well off third of pensioners.
Our reforms include the state second pension, which helps more future pensioners build up better pensions, especially carers. Pension credit, introduced from October 2003, provides a contribution to a guaranteed minimum income for those aged 60 and over and, for the first time, rewards people aged 65 and over who have made modest provision for their retirement. As of August 2005, around 4,500 pensioners in Islington South and Finsbury are receiving pension credit, with an average award of £62.27 per week.
We know that older people, who are often on fixed incomes, value timely help with fuel costs. This winter (2005–06) we have again made available a winter fuel payment of £200 for each eligible household with someone aged 60 or over and £300 if the household
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includes someone aged 80 or over to help with their fuel bills. In 2004–05, around 11,200 people in Islington South and Finsbury received a winter fuel payment. We expect the numbers to be similar for winter 2005–06.
Additionally, for 2005–06, eligible households with someone aged 65 or over, not receiving the guarantee credit element of pension credit received a one-off payment of £200 to help with their council tax bills. Pensioner households with someone aged 70 and over in receipt of the guarantee credit received a one-off payment of £50 to help with living expenses.
Since 1997 pensioners have seen a real terms increase in their basic state pension of 7 per cent. As at August 2005, around 9,800 pensioners in Islington South and Finsbury have benefited from this increase.
Disabled Person Disregard
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of raising the disabled person disregard for housing benefit and council tax benefit to £82. [61053]
Mr. Plaskitt: The estimated cost of raising the higher rate of earnings disregard for housing benefit and council tax benefit to £82 is £110 million per annum.
2. The impact is estimated using the Department's Policy Simulation Model for 2005–06, using data from the 2003–04 Family Resources Survey up-rated to 2005–06 prices, benefit rates and earnings levels, and is calibrated to latest published forecasts and policies.
3. Results are subject to sampling and reporting errors and estimation assumptions, and are therefore indicative only. No behavioural changes are assumed.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of extending the disabled person disregard to all recipients of incapacity benefits. [61054]
Mrs. McGuire: The information necessary to make such an estimate is not available.
Household Income
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of household income came from (a) tax credits, (b) means-tested benefits, (c) other benefits, (d) earned income excluding tax credits and (e) other sources in each year since 1997, broken down by income quintile or decile. [60608]
Mr. Plaskitt:
The information requested has been placed in the Library.
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Income Growth
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the real increase in the income of each income decile was in each year since 1978–79; and if he will make a statement. [41295]
Margaret Hodge:
The information is in the tables.
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Information is shown for incomes measured before housing costs were deducted (BHC) and for incomes after housing costs were deducted (AHC).
Median incomes of deciles of the 1979 to 1995–97 Before Housing Costs (BHC) income distributions are in the following table: 1.1
Note:
£pw equivalised to 2003–04 prices.
Source:
Family Expenditure Survey (UK)
Median incomes of deciles of the 1994–95 to 2003–04 income distributions Before Housing Costs (BHC) are in the following table: 1.2
Note:
£pw equivalised to 2003–04 prices.
Source:
The Family Resources Survey (FRS)
Median incomes of deciles of the 1979 to 1995–97 income distributions After Housing Costs (AHC) are in the following table: 1.3
Note:
£pw equivalised to 2003–04 prices.
Source:
Family Expenditure Survey (UK)
Median incomes of deciles of the 1994–95 to 2003–04 income distributions After Housing Costs (AHC) are in the following table: 1.4
Note:
£pw equivalised to 2003–04 prices.
Source:
The Family Resources Survey (FRS)
Notes to all tables:
1. Real income growth is shown by the changes in decile income medians which have been adjusted for inflation.
2. The Before Housing Costs and After Housing Costs income deciles are consistent with methodology used in DWP's National Statistics(42) series, Households Below Average Income.
3. Comparisons for the bottom decile should be treated with more caution. Decile medians for the bottom 10 per cent. are more volatile as they are affected to a greater extent by the composition of that decile, particularly by changes in the proportion of people who report very low incomes.
4. Caution should be exercised when interpreting changes over shorter time periods.
5. The Family Expenditure Survey (FES) data covers selected years from 1979 until 1995–97 where information are available. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) data is for all financial years 1994–95 until 2003–04.
6. Comparisons of estimates between the two sources should be treated carefully:
FES figures are for the United Kingdom, FRS figures are for Great Britain.
The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years. FES figures are single calendar years from 1979–87, two combined calendar years from 1988–89 to 1992–93 and two financial years combined from 1993–95 to 1995–97.
The FRS was established by the then Department of Social Security in order to meet the Department's analytical requirements.
A review, available on the internet, into the differences in income values between the two surveys concluded that the differences in monetary value estimates across surveys were too large to justify publishing direct comparisons. Furthermore, large fluctuations in the difference between surveys for overlapping years mean that, in many cases, an adjusted, or a spliced time series may be no more accurate than the unadjusted series.
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