HC Deb 21 December 1988 vol 144 cc294-5W
Mr. Ralph Howell

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the total weekly income support for a married man with children aged four and six years if his income is(a) £50 per week, (b) £130 per week and (c) £160 per week.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The information is set out in the table. It is for families whose head is in full-time work and not eligible for income support.

The results are hypothetical, particularly as the family is assumed to pay average local authority housing charges. This masks the wide variety of rent and domestic rates that local authority tenants actually pay and need not reflect families' circumstances and their housing arrangements in these parts of the income distribution.

April 1988 benefit system: Average local authority rent and rates Married couple with 2 children aged 4 and 6
Earnings head
£50.00 £130.00 £160.00
Tax 0.00 12.81 20.31
National insurance 2.50 11.70 14.40
Take home pay 47.50 105.49 125.29
Family credit 44.20 6.37 0.00
Child benefit 14.50 14.50 14.50
Rent 19.90 19.90 19.90
Rent rebate 8.79 0.00 0.00
Rates 8.20 8.20 8.20
Rate rebate 3.14 0.00 0.00
Total net income 118.13 126.36 139.79
Net income after housing costs1 90.03 98.26 111.69
1 Previously total income support [Tax benefit model tables November 1987].

Mr. Lester

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of families with children in Great Britain are expected to be(a) entitled to and (b claiming income support or family credit in 1989.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Legal entitlement to an income-related benefit can be established only when an individual puts in a claim. Reliable estimates of the number of people who may be eligible for one of the income-related benefits but who do not submit a claim are available only on an historical survey basis. For the latest available estimates I refer the hon. Member to pages 272-273 of Cm. 288— the 1988 Public Expenditure White Paper. Later estimates, for 1985, will become available in the new year. Estimates published in October 1987 suggested that around 1½ million families with children, or just over one-fifth of the total in Great Britain, might claim income support or family credit in April 1988. Information providing estimates for 1989–90 will become available when the 1989 Public Expenditure White Paper is published.

Mr. Ronnie Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are currently claiming income support in the borough of Blyth Valley.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The borough of Blyth Valley is served by the local office at Blyth but the boundaries are not conterminous. The number of people claiming income support at Blyth local office on 31 August 1988, the latest information available, was 7,785. This figure is provisional and subject to amendment.