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14 Dec 2009 : Column 784W—continued
Pension Credit
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department has taken to publicise the rise in the savings disregard for pension credit to £10,000. [304260]
Angela Eagle: We have taken forward a number of measures to ensure people are aware of this change. In early November when the change took place we issued a press notice and contacted national, regional, online and specialist media to increase awareness. Coverage was achieved in a range of media including the Daily Mirror, The Guardian , T he Sunday Times and the moneysavingexpert.com website which has a monthly audience of 8.1 million.
Guidance was issued to staff to inform pension credit applicants who were unsuccessful on capital grounds in
advance of the rule change in November; we have also worked with key stakeholders so that they understand the changes.
Those already receiving pension credit and who benefited from the change were also notified of the change and its impact on their award.
In addition information has been incorporated in relevant pension credit leaflets and the online tool, 'The Pension Credit calculator'.
Pension Credit/Winter Fuel Payments
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners were in a household in receipt of (a) pension credit and (b) winter fuel allowance in each London local authority area in 2008-09. [304514]
Angela Eagle: The information requested is in the following tables:
| Number of pension credit beneficiaries in London Government region | ||
| Local authority | May 2008 | May 2009 |
| Notes: 1. The number of beneficiaries in receipt is rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Beneficiaries-pension credit is claimed on a household basis and therefore the number of people that pension credit helps (the beneficiaries) is the number of claimants in addition to the number of partners for whom they are also claiming. 3. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study | ||
| Number of individuals who received a winter fuel payment in London Government region for winter 2008-09 | |
| Local authority | Number |
| Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. Source: DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. data. | |
Sickness Benefits
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will place in the Library before the Christmas Adjournment a copy of the Government's response to the European Commission on EU infringement proceedings in respect of the non-payment of exportable disability living allowances and other exportable sickness benefits. [306273]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer given on 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 249W.
Social Security Benefits
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate she has made of the number of households in England in which each member is in receipt of at least one of income support, council tax benefit, housing benefit, jobseeker's allowance, pension credit or income-related employment and support allowance. [305786]
Helen Goodman: Information on the receipt of income support, council tax benefit, housing benefit, jobseeker's allowance, and pension credit is not available on a person level basis because these are paid on a benefit unit basis.
The most recent estimate available is that there were 4,000,000 households in England where all of the benefit units were in receipt of at least one of income support, council tax benefit, housing benefit, jobseeker's allowance, or pension credit.
Source:
The Family Resources Survey 2007-08. This survey is known to under-record benefit receipt so the estimate presented here should be treated with caution.
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of households in England in which all members are in receipt of at least one of working tax credit for those on incomes of less that £15,460 per annum including a disability element, disability living allowance, child tax credit for those with an income of less than £15,460 per annum, housing benefit including a disability premium, income support including a disability premium, council tax benefit including a disability premium, war disablement pension including a mobility supplement or constant attendance allowance or attendance allowance. [305788]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 10 December 2009]: The information is not available.
Social Security Benefits: Elderly
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on disability premiums for (a) pension credit and (b) housing benefit for people over 65 in England in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09. [300397]
Angela Eagle: The disability premium applies only to working age benefits, but disabled pensioners can have an additional amount for severe disability taken into account in their claim for pension credit or housing benefit.
Premiums are additional amounts which are taken into account in the means test for pension credit and housing benefit, but are not paid directly as a discrete amount. They do not necessarily increase benefit entitlement by the full value of the premium, and the impact will depend on the pensioner's income and other circumstances.
However, it is possible to estimate how much pension credit expenditure is due to the severe disability premium by looking at how much less would be spent if the premium was removed, all other things being equal, and these estimates are provided in the following table.
Housing benefit is more complex, as entitlement is usually dependent on the amount and type of pension credit that is in payment. In particular, the use of the premium in a pension credit award can lead to a larger housing benefit entitlement, without the premium being used in the housing benefit assessment. National Statistics on housing benefit do not currently provide the necessary information needed in order to produce an estimate of the expenditure involved.
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