Previous Section Index Home Page

29 Jan 2007 : Column 88W—continued


Teaching Assistants: Lancashire

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching assistants there were in schools in each local authority in Lancashire in each year from 1997 to 2006. [110543]

Jim Knight: The following table provides the number of full-time equivalent teaching assistants employed in maintained schools in the local authorities that make up the pre-1998 Lancashire local authority area for January of each year from 1997 to 2006.

Full-time equivalent teaching assistants in former Lancashire, Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool local authority maintained schools: January of each year
Former Lancashire Lancashire Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool

1997

1,780

1998

2,000

1999

1,670

300

190

2000

1,830

350

220

2001

2,190

430

290

2002

1,960

360

190

2003

3,130

530

390

2004

3,300

580

430

2005

3,570

610

480

2006

3,890

650

480

Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Annual School Census (ASC)

Work and Pensions

Benefit Claimants

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received (a) incapacity benefit, (b) disability living allowance, (c) attendance allowance, (d) bereavement benefits, (e) carer's allowance, (f) maternity allowance and (g) severe disablement allowance in each of the last five years; how much was paid in each case in each year; and how much was spent on the administration of each in each year, broken down by (i) employee costs, (ii) IS/IT costs and (iii) other costs. [102180]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following tables.


29 Jan 2007 : Column 89W

29 Jan 2007 : Column 90W
Number of claimants in receipt of the listed benefits at the dates shown
May 2002 May 2003 May 2004 May 2005 May 2006

Incapacity Benefit (IB)

2,471,140

2,494,890

2,508,770

2,490,850

2,449,990

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

2,443,810

2,566,820

2,662,830

2,750,970

2,820,860

Attendance Allowance (AA)

1 ,504,440

1,527,990

1,570,340

1,605,710

1,646,890

Bereavement benefits (BB)

41,490

47,680

51,180

55,240

57,660

Carer's Allowance (CA)

516,080

589,330

680,470

733,750

785,270

Maternity Allowance (MA)

15,700

14,860

26,900

27,500

29,900

Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)

336,480

320,760

305,940

292,870

280,010

Notes: 1. IB, SDA,DLA, AA and BB Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. MA figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. AA, CA and DLA figures show all entitled cases—not just those in payment. 4. The sharp rise in MA figures from 2003 to 2004 is due to the change in MA rules. From April 2003 Maternity Allowance could be claimed for 26 weeks rather than the 18 weeks previously allowed. 5. 'Claimant' figures include all IB (including IB credits only cases). Source: For IB, SDA,DLA,AA and BB - DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data. For MA - DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.

Benefit expenditure on the listed benefits in Great Britain (real terms, 2006-07 prices)
£ million
2001-02 Outturn2002-03 Outturn2003-04 Outturn2004-05 Outturn2005-06 Estimated Outturn

Attendance Allowance

3,536

3,566

3,695

3,845

4,012

Disability Living Allowance

7,447

7,735

8,104

8,453

8,810

Carer's Allowance

1,055

1,089

1,126

1,153

1,172

Bereavement Benefit

1,244

1,193

1,076

965

905

Incapacity Benefit

7,638

7,412

7,187

6,967

6,810

Severe Disablement Allowance

1,177

1,050

1,000

960

919

Maternity Allowance

63

75

136

156

168

Source: DWP benefit expenditure tables.

.

The Department accounts for its administrative 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, and not by benefit. Information on administrative expenditure by strategic objective is available in the annually published Departmental Report, copies of which are available in the Library.

Benefits: Parental Shared Residence

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what provision there is for splitting child benefits and allowances between parents awarded shared residence; and if he will make a statement. [113053]

Mr. Plaskitt: The rules that determine when a personal allowance and any appropriate premiums for a child can be awarded are broadly linked to child benefit rules. As current provision does not allow child benefit to be divided between two individuals, there is therefore no provision in DWP benefits for payments for a child to be split between parents in cases where shared residence has been awarded.

Benefits: Disabled People

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled people are in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) income support, (c) housing benefit and (d) carer's allowance. [116525]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 18 January 2007]: Claimants are not required to state whether they are disabled in order to claim or receive these benefits. Therefore, the information is not available.

Care Leavers

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people who have left care under the age of 21 years are in receipt of (a) income support and (b) housing benefit. [116475]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Income-related Benefits

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will include in his Department's 2005-06 publication of Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-Up data broken down by (a) rural and (b) non-rural categories; and if he will make a statement. [116199]

Mr. Plaskitt: We are not intending to include estimates of take-up by rural and non-rural categories in the next publication of Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-up.

Jobseeker's Allowance and Incapacity Benefit

Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people who made a new claim for jobseeker's allowance in the most recent year for which figures are available were in work (a) six months and (b) one year later; and how many there were (i) in total, (ii) aged 25 to 49 and (iii) aged over 50 years. [114622]


29 Jan 2007 : Column 91W

Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is in the table and represents the minimum numbers and proportions of people who satisfy the given criteria.

New claims for jobseeker's allowance, April 2004 to March 2005
Proportion (Percentage) Total Aged 25-49 Aged 50 and over

In work six months later

39

672,650

331,960

99,150

In work one year later

43

740,130

366,520

107,540

Notes: 1. Data on employment are available to the 26 of November 2006. As such, the latest operational year of new claimants for which (a) and (c) are answerable is April 2004 to March 2005, and the latest operational year of claims reaching their first anniversary for which (b) and (d) are answerable is April 2003 to March 2004 (and thus relates to people making a new claim during April 2002 and March 2003). 2. The figures quoted in this response come from data in the National Benefits Database and the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). 3. Figures in this response are based upon periods of employment measured from the WPLS, which is based on data from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The figures given can be taken as a minimum only for the following (not necessarily comprehensive) reasons: (i) Some records show that a person started or ended employment at some point in the year, but the exact date on when they started or left their job is unknown, and therefore we do not know if they were employed at the points in time specified in this query. (ii) If a person's earnings are sufficiently low that they fall below the lower income tax threshold and so are not required to pay PAYE income tax on their earnings then there is no requirement to inform HMRC of their employment (although some employers declare these jobs anyway). (iii) These data do not include the self-employed. (iv) Poor quality personal data may lead to missed matches with benefits data. (v) No “HMRC sensitive and secure” information is supplied by HMRC (for example, HMRC employees, members of the security services).

Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people who left (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) incapacity benefit in the most recent year for which figures are available made a subsequent claim for the benefit within a year (i) in total, (ii) aged 16 to 24, (iii) aged 25 to 49 and (iv) aged 50 years to state pension age. [114628]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is in the following tables.

Percentage of people who left jobseeker's allowance between 1 June 2004 and 31 May 2005, and re-claimed jobseeker's allowance within a year
Age at start of re-claim Percentage

All

47.1

16 to 24

53.4

25 to 49

45.3

50 to state pension age

37.5


Next Section Index Home Page