§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the average time taken to process appeals on family income supplement in south Yorkshire; and what it was in 1983;
(2) how many appeals on family income supplement applications are in process in (a) south Yorkshire and (b) south Wales, as compared to the same period last year.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information required is not available.
An improved system of recording information about the processing of appeals is now in operation following the introduction of the new social security appeal tribunal system on 23 April 1984 and more detailed information will be available in due course.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate, following the Government's proposals to change the date on which new family income supplement rates are paid, the overall average annual loss of family income supplement to recipients; and if he will publish a chart showing the average loss per recipient for the following family types (a) single-parent families with one, two and three children, respectively, and (b) two-parent families with one, two and three children, respectively.
§ Mr. NewtonIt is estimated that the overall average annual amount of family income supplement which families would receive, in addition to their original award, if awards current at 27 November 1984 were to be increased in accordance with existing practice, is about £50. Although separate estimates are not available, this figure will not vary substantially for one or two-parent families but will vary according to the number of children. The maximum weekly amount for families with up to three children will be:
149W
Maximum per week £ One-child family 2.30 Two-child family 2.50 Three-child family 2.80 In 1981–82 about one-half of FIS recipients also received rent and rates rebates and in these cases the additional annual amount which would have been received would be about £33, because of the knock-on effect of housing benefit.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many families since 1979 have been in receipt of family income supplement for longer than one year: and for what length of time they have claimed.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 5 July 1984, c. 283]: Of those family income supplement awards current at October 1979 and those made subsequently up to October 1983, the latest date for which this information is available, about 150,000 have received FIS for a total period of more than one year—exempli gratia a family in receipt of FIS in 1979 and 1982 but not in the intervening years has been regarded as receiving FIS for a total of two years.
The following table shows the length of time involved:
Families 2 years 80,000 3 years 40,000 4 years 20,000 5 years 10,000 150,000