Hugh Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) pensioners, (b) people of working age, (c) disabled people and (d) people of all ages received income-related benefits (i) in May 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available; and what the monetary value of such benefits for each group was at each of those dates. [322122]
Helen Goodman:
The benefit system aims to tackle poverty by providing support for various groups of people: pensioners; unemployed people; lone parents; sick and disabled people; and renters and home owners. It also provides help for the extra costs that disabled people face; and support for carers.
Means tested benefits support people whose income and capital are below a prescribed level. It guarantees a minimum level of income for people who are either looking for work or are not required to actively seek work because of age, ill health, disability or caring responsibilities. The amount of benefit a person gets depends on their needs ("applicable amount") and takes into account any other income (including other benefits) or capital.
The information is not available in the format requested; the available information is in the tables.
Table 1: Income support ( IS ) and income based jobseeker's allowance (JSA(IB)) claimants-Great Britain May 1997 and August 2009
May 1997
August 2009
IS (non-MIG)
2,263,700
1,955,330
O f which:
Receive IS disability premium
836,200
1,095,870
JSA (IB)
1,181,100
1,055,800
Notes: 1. Income support minimum income guarantee (MIG) claimants aged 60 and over transferred to pension credit in October 2003, for easier comparison May 1997 claimants over 60 have been excluded from the IS figure above and shown along with pension credit claimants. August 2009 figures include a very small number of residual MIG claimants who did not transfer to pension credit. 2. Figures for May 1997 IS/JSA (IB) have been uprated using 5 per cent. proportions against 100 per cent. WPLS totals and rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Figures for August 2009 IS are taken from 100 per cent. data and rounded to the nearest 10. 4. JSA(IB) Benefit Type-The benefit type is defined as pay status at the caseload date -this may differ from the status at the start or end of the claim. 5. JSA(IB) includes a small number of claimants with both contributory based and income based entitlement. Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) Information Directorate, 100 per cent., 5 per cent. samples.
29 Mar 2010 : Column 727W
Table 2: Employment and support allowance income based (ESA (IB)) claimants-Great Britain August 2009
Total
Under 60
60-65
ESA(IB)
190,380
186,480
3,900
Notes: 1. Employment and support allowance (ESA) replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008. 2. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. ESA (IB) Benefit Type-The benefit type is defined as pay status at the caseload date-this may differ from the status at the start or end of the claim. 4. ESA (IB) includes a small number of claimants with both contributory based and income based entitlement. 5. It is possible for a claimant aged over pension age to claim ESA for a limited period. Therefore age groups for caseload and off flows include a small proportion of claimants aged 65. Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS).
29 Mar 2010 : Column 728W
Table 3: Pension credit / income support (aged 60 and over) claimants in Great Britain as at May 1997 and August 2009
IS claimants May 1997
Pension credit August 2009
Total
1,739,100
2,737,290
Notes: 1. Pension credit figure is rounded to the nearest 10; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. Income support (IS) figures are based on 5 per cent. data and uprated against 100 per cent. WPLS totals and rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. Pension credit was introduced on 6 October 2003 and replaced minimum income guarantee (income support for people aged 60 or over). The vast majority of people who were previously in receipt of the minimum income guarantee transferred to pension credit in October 2003. These pension credit statistics are produced on a different basis to the early estimates. The latter are more timely but operational processing times mean that a number of claim commencements and terminations are not reflected in them. 3. These data represent all claimants as this benefit is not paid to anyone aged under 60. Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS).
Table 4: Housing benefit and council tax benefit claimants by age in Great Britain as at May 1997 and August 2009
Total
Aged under 60
Aged 60 and over
May 1977
Housing benefit
4,639,000
2,786,000
1,853,000
O f which:
Receive a disability premium
709,000
-
Council tax benefit
5,498,000
2,853,000
2,646,000
O f which:
Receive a disability premium
781,000
-
August 2009
Housing benefit
4,494,560
2,957,630
1,535,960
O f which:
Receive a disability premium
-
--
Council tax benefit
5,519,390
2,931,800
2,586,710
O f which:
Receive a disability premium
-
-
Notes: 1. The May 1997 figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 3. August 2009 figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, May 1997 figures to the nearest thousand. 4. Council tax benefit figures exclude any single adult rebate cases. 5. Single housing benefit extract (SHBE) is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data is available monthly from November 2008 and November 2009 is the most recent available. To be consistent with other benefits August data is shown. 6. There will be overlaps in data between housing benefit and council tax Benefit, and between housing benefit and council tax benefit and other benefits. 7. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases. An extended payment is a payment that may be received for a further four weeks when the claimant starts working full time, works more hours or earns more money. 8. "-" denotes not available. The breakdown from the 1997 1 per cent. sample is by client group, there is no breakdown available of disabled within the pension client group. Breakdown by disability is not available on SHBE. 9. Comparison of these figures should be treated with caution due to the sampling variation in the May 1997 data. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE)-August 2009. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken from May 1997.
Table 5: Benefit expenditure
£ million
1997-98
2008-09
Nominal terms
Real terms
Nominal terms
Real terms
Pensioners
Income support for people age 60 and over / minimum income guarantee / pension credit
3,721
4,940
7,794
7,950
Housing benefit and discretionary housing payments
3,781
5,019
5,570
5,681
Council tax benefit
1,080
1,433
2,163
2,206
Total
8,582
11,392
15,526
15,837
Working age
Income support for under 60s
6,094
8,090
7,148
7,291
Jobseeker's allowance-income-based
3,088
4,100
2,129
2,172
Employment and support allowance-income based
0
0
63
64
Housing benefit and discretionary housing payments
7,396
9,818
11,554
11,785
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29 Mar 2010 : Column 730W
Council tax benefit
1,315
1,746
2,072
2,113
Total
17,894
23,753
22,966
23,425
O f which disabled
Income support
2,809
3,729
4,616
4,709
Housing benefit
1,782
2,366
4,244
4,329
Council tax benefit
367
487
870
887
All ages
Income support all ages including pension credit and minimum income guarantee
9,815
13,030
14,942
15,241
Jobseeker's allowance-income based
3,088
4,100
2,129
2,172
Employment and support allowance-income based
0
0
63
64
Housing benefit
11,177
14,837
17,123
17,466
Council tax benefit
2,395
3,179
4,235
4,319
Total
26,475
35,145
38,492
39,262
Notes: 1. For consistency figures exclude child elements of income support and jobseeker's allowance, which have now mostly been replaced by child tax credit payments administered by HM Revenue & Customs. 2. Expenditure on disabled people is for working age only, based on receipt of disability premium in the income-related benefits. Such information for pensioners is not available, as there is no equivalent premium in pension credit. 3. Because of changes in data sources figures for housing benefit and council tax benefit may not be completely consistent between 1997-98 and 2007-08. 4. Figures may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP Accounting Data.
