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24 Apr 2006 : Column 907W—continued

Benefit Costs

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was in current prices of (a) income support, (b) incapacity benefit, (c) disability living allowance, (d) attendance allowance, (e) the
 
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social fund, (f) retirement pension, (g) the state second pension/state earnings-related pension scheme and (h) pension credit in each year since 1996–97; and what percentage of these costs was accounted for by administration in each year. [59338]


 
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Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is in the following tables.
Nominal (cash terms) Great Britain

Outturn
Benefit expenditure (£ million)1996–971997–981998–991999–20002000–01
Income support (under 60 years of age)10,6308,1938,1728,3029,026
Incapacity benefit7,6627,4127,2516,7906,766
Disability living allowance4,4984,9535,3165,6606,044
Attendance allowance2,3932,5212,6802,8232,955
Social fund239186199185235
Contributory retirement pension-basic29,23930,39131,91433,37833,986
Contributory retirement pension-earnings related2,7563,1663,6604,3974,731
Income support for people over 60/minimum income guarantee/pension credit3,8153,7733,6193,7814,095

Outturn
Estimated outturn
Benefit expenditure (£ million)2001–022002–032003–042004–05
Income support (under 60 years of age)9,6159,75310,34410,068
Incapacity benefit6,7496,7586,7246,676
Disability living allowance6,5807,0527,5828,078
Attendance allowance3,1243,2513,4573,678
Social fund250301326327
Contributory retirement pension-basic36,56538,46939,82841,389
Contributory retirement pension-earnings related5,3285,8696,6487,355
Income support for people over 60/minimum income guarantee/pension credit4,4864,4844,8515,997

Real terms (2005–06 prices) Great Britain

Outturn
Benefit expenditure (£ million)1996–971997–981998–991999–20002000–01
Income support(under 60 years of age)13,1619,8529,5799,54310,242
Incapacity benefit9,4868,9148,4997,8057,677
Disability living allowance5,5695,9576,2316,5066,858
Attendance allowance2,9633,0323,1413,2453,353
Social fund296224233213267
Contributory retirement pension-basic36,20136,54737,40838,36938,564
Contributory retirement pension-earnings related3,4123,8074,2915,0555,369
Income support for people over 60/minimum income guarantee/pension credit4,7234,5374,2424,3464,647

Outturn
Estimated outturn
Benefit expenditure (£ million)2001–022002–032003–042004–05
Income support (under 60 years of age)10,64710,46710,81510,307
Incapacity benefit7,4737,2537,0306,835
Disability living allowance7,2867,5687,9278,270
Attendance allowance3,4603,4893,6143,765
Social fund277323341335
Contributory retirement pension-basic40,49041,28741,64142,373
Contributory retirement pension-earnings related5,9006,2996,9517,529
Income support for people over 60/minimum income guarantee/pension credit4,9674,8135,0726,140

Estimated
Administration cost as a percentage of benefit expenditure (Great Britain)1996–971997–981998–99
Incapacity benefit4.84.05.2
Disability living allowance3.33.32.2
Attendance allowance3.43.02.8
Social fund21.515.319.3
Retirement pension0.90.90.9
Income support7.26.04.9
Income support unemployed only-6 months (replaced by jobseekers' allowance income based in October 1996)8.800




Notes:
1.Benefit expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £ million. The figures do not include administration expenditure.
2.Administration percentages (of benefit expenditure only and not the sum of benefit expenditure and administration expenditure) been obtained from previously published departmental reports (see source). The social fund percentage is of expenditure and loan recoveries, whereas the social fund benefit expenditure figures shown in the tables are net of recoveries. The percentage of income support includes expenditure on the over 60's age group. The 1996–97 administration percentage of income support paid to the unemployed is shown separately. (Jobseeker's allowance-income based replaced income support paid to the unemployed in October 1996. Jobseeker's allowance-income based administration expenditure figures are not shown in the table).
3.Information on the costs (and therefore percentages) of administering benefits from 1999–2000 onwards is not currently available in the format requested. In accordance with the requirements of Resource Accounting and Budgeting the Department now accounts for its administration and benefit expenditure by Strategic Objective, as set out in its public service agreements (PSA), and by individual Requests for Resources (RfRs), as set out in the Departmental Estimates and Accounts.
Sources:
Table 3 DWP expenditure tables published on the internet at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp. All figures are consistent with the pre-Budget report (5 December 2005).
Administration percentages are from Department for Social Security Departmental Reports, published in April 1998 (1996–97 figure), March 1999 (1997–98 figure) and April 2000 (1998–99 figure).





 
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Capita Group

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have held with directors and senior executives of (i) Capita Group plc. and (ii) its subsidiaries since 1 January 2004; and whether (A) Capita Group plc. and (B) its subsidiaries have provided input (1) in writing and (2) in person to policy discussions in his Department since 1 January 2004. [61140]

Margaret Hodge: Capita Group plc has a large number of trading subsidiaries and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Child Support

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents have avoided paying the correct amount of child support in (a) West Lancashire, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK in each year since 1980. [64293]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr.Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Hilary Reynolds:


 
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Table 1: Interim Maintenance Assessments and Default Maintenance Decisions applied for since 1997

Interim Maintenance
Assessments (old scheme)
Default Maintenance
Decision (new scheme)
NovemberNumber
of cases
Percentage of all cases with
an assessment
Number
of cases
Percentage of all cases with
an assessment
199778,00011n/an/a
199877,0009n/an/a
199976,0008n/an/a
200054,0005n/an/a
200147,0004n/an/a
200240,0004n/an/a
2003u/au/a3,0006
200432,00036,0004
200527,00047,0003




Notes:
1.Robust data is not available prior to 1997.
2.Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand and percentages to the
nearest whole percent.
2.'n/a' indicates the period is not applicable.
3.'u/a' indicates that data is unavailable due to limitations in management information.




Table 2: Number of Departures applied for in each year since 1999–2000

Departures applied for
1999–200020,000
2000–200123,000
2001–200221,000
2002–200321,000
2003–200413,000
2004–20058,000
2005–2006 (to Feb 2006)9,000




Notes
1.A departure can be applied for by either parent where it is felt that a maintenance assessment does not adequately reflect the circumstances of the NRP or PWC. Departures apply to old scheme cases only. The numbers presented therefore cover any circumstance where a departure has been applied for (as opposed to granted), and not just those where departures were applied for by the PWC.
2.This table shows the number of departures applied for in each year since 1999/2000. Robust figures are not available for periods of time before 1999.
3.Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.





 
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Table 3: Non resident parents in Great Britain who paid the full amount of maintenance, as a proportion of those charged via the Agency's collection service

Percentage of non-resident parents who paid the
full amount of maintenance (Overall Agency)
Quarter endingOld scheme old systemNew and old scheme
November 199527
November 199636
November 199744
November 199845
November 199947
November 200049
November 200151
November 200254
November 2003u/au/a
November 200446
November 200545
December 200542




Notes
1.To place these figures into context, it should be noted that, whilst only 42 per cent. of non resident parents paid their maintenance liability in full over the quarter ending December 2005, the Agency obtained some form of payment from 70 per cent. of cases in which maintenance was due via the collection service. Where any such payment was obtained, on average, 90 per cent. of the amount due was collected.
2.Data is not available prior to 1995.
3.'u/a' indicates that data is unavailable due to limitations in management information.
4.Numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole per cent.




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