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1 Dec 2009 : Column 617W—continued
We announced during the passage of the Welfare Reform Act 2009 that lone parents with a child in receipt of any rate of care component of disability living allowance would be exempted from the requirement
to undertake work-related activity while claiming income support. Work-related activity will be piloted initially in four areas, and we will bring forward the relevant regulations in the new year.
With respect to the mobility component of disability living allowance, the effect on a parent's availability to undertake work-related activity is less. The higher rate does not attach itself to a requirement for help from another person, and although the lower rate component requires guidance or supervision from another person when out of doors, unlike with care component there is no minimum threshold for the time or effort required to guide or supervise a child. We are therefore not providing for a blanket exemption from work-related activity or, in due course, availability for work. However, a decision-maker must, under the Welfare Reform Act 2009, take into account health and disability issues when considering whether there is good cause for failure to comply with a direction to undertake work-related activity or, in due course, for turning down a job; and the issue should have been taken into account before this, in agreeing an action plan or, in due course, a jobseeker's agreement that takes into account the wellbeing of the child.
Employment and Support Allowance: Dartford
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Dartford who have submitted claims for employment and support allowance since its introduction have appealed against the outcome of the work capability assessment (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully. [301770]
Jonathan Shaw: Data on appeals against the work capability assessment decision are held at regional level and figures for the south-east region are provided. For people in the south-east who started an employment and support allowance claim since its introduction in October 2008 up to February 2009, who were found fit for work at the work capability assessment and have submitted and completed an appeal the figures are:
Successful appeals: 100
Unsuccessful appeals: 120
These figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and are consistent with the national figures published in October 2009.
Due to the time it takes for appeals to be submitted to Tribunals Service and heard, a very limited volume of appeals heard data are held currently. Volumes will increase in the coming months as more appeals are processed giving a more robust picture of appeal volumes and outcomes.
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Dartford who have submitted claims for employment and support allowance since its introduction have (a) not met the work capability assessment qualification criteria, (b) met the work capability assessment criteria for the work-related activity group and (c) met the work capability assessment qualification criteria for the support group. [301772]
Jonathan Shaw:
Data on outcomes from the medical assessment process for Employment and Support Allowance claims are held at regional level and figures for the South East region are provided. For people in the South
East who started an employment and support allowance claim since its introduction in October 2008 up to February 2009 and who completed the assessment process the figures are:
Number of people found fit for work: 5,400
Number of people in the work related activity group: 2,700
Number of people in the support group: 1,100
These figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and are consistent with the national figures published in October 2009.
These data should be considered as provisional since they are based on recorded advice from ATOS Healthcare, rather than the decision maker's final determination. The final outcomes of cases may change. This will be further compounded by reconsiderations following additional medical evidence and the outcomes of appeals. Full guidance on the national figures is included in the published statistics.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the reply from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 30 September 2009, when the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will reply to the hon. Member for Walsall North regarding a constituent. [300617]
Helen Goodman [holding answer 23 November 2009]: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the reply from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 30 September 2009 when the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will reply to the hon. Member for Walsall North regarding a constituent. [300617]
As details about individual cases are confidential I have written to you separately about this case.
Poverty
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the proportion of (a) children, (b) people and (c) elderly people in (i) rural areas and (ii) England who live in poverty. [301860]
Helen Goodman: Estimates of the numbers of people, elderly people and children in rural areas living in poverty are derived from the Family Resources Survey produced by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Survey is available on the Department's website and a copy is also in the Library:
| Table 1: Proportion of various groups below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income in 2007-08 for rural areas and England, before housing costs | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Rural | England | |
| Table 2: Proportion of various groups below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income in 2007-08 for rural areas and England, after housing costs | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Rural | England | |
| Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income, sourced from the Family Resources Survey. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures are single financial years. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 5. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) equivalisation factors. 6. Numbers of children, pensioners and individuals in low income have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. | ||
Poverty: Children
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of children have been in poverty in accordance with the Government's definition of child poverty in each (a) year since 1999 and (b) of the last eight quarters. [301789]
Helen Goodman: Poverty statistics, published in the households below average income series, are only produced on an annual basis therefore quarterly information is not available.
The Government's measures of child poverty are:
The number of children in relative low income households defined as living in households with incomes below 60 per cent of contemporary median income, before housing costs (shown in table 1).
The number of children in absolute low-income households defined as living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of median income held constant in real terms, before housing costs (shown in table 2).
The number of children in relative low-income households and in material deprivation defined as families with a material deprivation score of 25 or more and a household income below 70 per cent. contemporary median income, before housing costs (shown in table 3). Note that this information is only available from 2004-05.
| Table 2: Number and percentage of children in the United Kingdom living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income held constant in real terms, 1999-2000 to 2007-08, before housing costs | ||
| Before housing costs | ||
| Period | Number (million) | Percentage |
| Table 3: Percentage and number of children in the United Kingdom falling below thresholds of low income and material deprivation, 2004-05 to 2007-08 | ||
| Before housing costs | ||
| Period | Number (million) | Percentage |
| Notes: 1. These statistics are based on households below average income (HBAI), sourced from the Family Resources Survey. The Family Resources Survey is available in the Library. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for HBAI figures are single financial years. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions' publication HBAI series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 5. For the HBAI series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development equivalisation factors. 6. Numbers of children in low income have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand. 7. Proportions of children in low income have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. 8. A family is in low income and material deprivation if they have a material deprivation score of 25 or more and a household income below 70 per cent. contemporary median income, before housing costs. Figures before 2004-05 are not available. | ||
Poverty: Farmers
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate her Department has made of the number of farmers in England who live in poverty. [301861]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
In 2007-08 for England, 25 per cent. of farm households were below the modified low income threshold (gross income before housing costs).
Social Security Benefits: Elderly
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on the (a) care and (b) mobility component of (i) attendance and (ii) disability living allowance for people over 65 in England in (A) 2007-08 and (B) 2008-09. [300398]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 23 November 2009]: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Expenditure on the care/mobility component of attendance allowance and disability living allowance for claimants aged 65 and over in England | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| In cash terms | In 2009-10 prices | |||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Notes: 1. Claimants on disability living allowance may receive both a care and mobility component. 2. Attendance allowance does not have a mobility component. Source: DWP Statistical and Accounting Data | ||||
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