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5 Jan 2010 : Column 123W—continued
Poverty: West Yorkshire
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of (a) adults and (b) children were living in poverty in (i) England, (ii) the West Yorkshire region and (iii) Leeds West constituency in each year since 1997. [306934]
Helen Goodman: Specific information regarding low income for the UK is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95 to 2007/08". This annual report, which is a National Statistics publication, includes the numbers and proportions of individuals, children, working age adults and pensioners with incomes below 50 per cent., 60 per cent. and 70 per cent. of median income, and the proportions in persistent poverty. For children, it also contains a measure of combined low income and material deprivation.
Estimates of poverty, published in the households below average income series, only allow a breakdown of the overall number of people in poverty at Government office region level. Therefore, information for the Leeds, West constituency and West Yorkshire region are not available. The Government are in the process of developing a child poverty indicator for use at the local level within the local area agreements; capturing children in households in receipt of out of work benefits or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent. of median income.
The information covering parts (a), (b) and (i) of the question is given in the following table for periods where data are available.
| Proportion of adults and children who are living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median income, before housing costs, England, 1997-98 to 2007-08 | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Adults | Children | |
Social Security Benefits
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much on average was received by an individual claimant of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) housing benefit and (c) income support weekly in the latest period for which figures are available. [306925]
Jonathan Shaw: The most recent available information is in the table. Figures relate to the weekly amount of benefit paid.
Social Security Benefits: Autism
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to assist people with autism when applying for benefits and seeking employment. [304231]
Jonathan Shaw: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
State Retirement Pensions
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the average net change in income of a pensioner receiving no more than the basic state pension in each year since 1997. [306269]
Angela Eagle: Pensioners receiving no more than the basic state pension have been defined as those individual pensioners whose total individual income was below the basic state pension threshold for each relevant year.
The information that is available is shown in the following table. Figures are presented in 2007-08 prices in order to allow comparison over time. The information has been derived from the Family Resources survey and is presented as a three year average to help take account of small sample sizes that exist for subsets of the population.
For context, the basic state pension threshold in 2007-08 was £87.30.
It should be noted that the data are based on individual incomes. As shown in Table 1 above, just 4 per cent. of the individuals' income in this group in 2005-08 provided the total household income. That is, 96 per cent. of this group live in households with other income earning adults and therefore their overall household income is likely to be much higher. The vast majority of this second group are female.
When considering income, household income is most commonly used. This is because the living standards of an individual depend not only on his or her own income, but also on the income of others in the household. Consequently, considering an individuals income is often not indicative of that individuals overall living standards.
The figures in Table 1 should therefore be used to signify the change in this income level, rather than as an indicator of the average level of income that an individual has to live on and consequently a gauge of living standards.
| Average weekly income of individual pensioners with incomes below the basic state pension threshold in each given time period (in 2007-08 prices) (£) | Proportion where income from individual is the only household income (percentage) | Change in average individual income (£) | |
| Notes: 1. Please note that figures on change may not match exactly due to rounding. 2. Incomes and change in income are rounded to the nearest pound. | |||
The figures suggest that while there have been two time periods where the average income has fallen, over the entire period since 1995-98, the average income has risen by £7 in real terms.
Winter Fuel Payments: Nottingham
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Nottingham North constituency are receiving the higher levels of winter fuel payments; and what the average increase in the level of that payment per pensioner has been in the last three years. [308499]
Angela Eagle: The basic winter fuel payment of £200 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 and £300 for households with someone aged 80 or over has remained the same for the last three years. However, for this winter, and for winter 2008-09, an additional payment of £50 for households with those aged 60 to 79 and £100 for households with someone aged 80 or over has been made, taking payments to £250 and £400 respectively.
For winter 2008-09, 17,100 people in Nottingham North constituency received a winter fuel payment. Of these, 3,550 received the higher winter fuel payment which is for those aged 80 or over.
Work Capability Assessment: Appeals
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate has been made on the number of people who were waiting (a) between one and 30 days, (b) between 30 and 60 days, (c) between 60 and 120 days, (d) for more than six months and (e) for more than 12 months for an appeal in respect of the outcome of their work capability assessment after a health professional on an employment tribunal has deemed a person fit for employment. [303280]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is not available.
Mrs. Moon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will make an assessment of the financial position of people waiting for an appeal to be heard in respect of the outcome of their work
capability assessment after a health professional at an employment tribunal has deemed a person fit for employment. [303282]
Jonathan Shaw: For employment and support allowance, where a customer does not satisfy the work capability assessment, but continues to provide medical evidence that they should refrain from work, entitlement to benefit continues at the assessment phase rate pending the outcome of the appeal. This policy was introduced to ensure that customers have ongoing financial support until the outcome of their appeal is decided.
If the appeal is decided in the customer's favour, arrears are backdated to the date from which the higher rates are awarded.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when she will respond to Question 301334, tabled by the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire on 19 November 2009, on departmental working practices. [305877]
Jim Knight [holding answer 10 December 2009]: I replied to the hon. Member's question on 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 243-4W.
Home Department
Action Plan Orders
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many action plan orders relating to those aged (a) 10 or 11, (b) 12 to 14 and (c) 15 to 17 years old have been (i) given and (ii) breached in each year since 1997. [302443]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows the number of action plan orders that have been given to young people by courts, broken down by financial year and age group. Data on breaches of action plan orders are not held centrally. Action plan orders were introduced in pilot areas from 1998 and nationally from 2000. Complete data are not available on numbers of orders made prior to the financial year 2000-01.
| Action plan orders | ||||||||
| Age group | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time. | ||||||||
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