§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will express the current real value of (a) invalidity benefit and (b) attendance allowance compared with their values before the entry into force of section 1 of the Social Security Act 1980 which abolished the link with the rise in average earnings; how many people are currently in receipt of each benefit; and what have been the savings to his Department on each of these benefits in each year since the act came into force.
§ Mr. MajorComparisons of the current rates of invalidity benefit and attendance allowance with the rates obtaining in November 1979 are as follows:
November 1979 rates November 1979 rates increased in line with prices to July 1986 July 1986 rates £ £ £ Invalidity benefit 23.30 37.71 38.70 Attendance allowance: Lower rate 12.40 20.06 20.65 Higher rate 18.60 30.09 30.95 The latest estimated figures for the number of people receiving these benefits are:
Invalidity benefit—849,000 at March 1985Attendance allowance—585,000 at March 1986It is not possible to isolate the effect of section 1 of the Social Security Act 1980 from a variety of other changes which have affected total expenditure on these benefits.