§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what arrangements he has made to compensate families suffering financial hardship as a result of delays in the processing of applications for family credit.
§ Mr. PortilloArrears of benefit would, of course, he payable, backdated to the start of the award period. Family credit is paid to people in work, who will normally have significant other resources. Where, nevertheless, a family faced serious financial hardship pending an award, they could be considered for a loan from the social fund.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services which organisations have made representations to him about family credit form FC2 and information leaflet FB4; what was the nature of those representations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloRepresentations have been received from the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and others, suggesting that the formula in form FC2, designed to allow potential claimants to work out whether they are likely to be eligible for family credit, can confuse or mislead. We are considering whether and how the presentation of this information can be improved in later editions to avoid this and any other points which appear to cause difficulty. The same formula appears in leaflet FB4 but we have no record of any representations specifically about that leaflet.
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§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claimants for family credit since its introduction were not previously in receipt of family income supplement or supplementary benefit.
§ Mr. PortilloInformation is not available precisely in the form requested. Around 200,000 families were transferred from family income supplement to family credit from 11 April 1988. In addition, up to the end or May, nearly 140,000 claims for family credit had been received, a few of which will be renewal claims from ex-family income supplement cases where the first award of family credit had now expired.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to monitor the number of claimants receiving family credit as a direct transition from family income supplement.
§ Mr. PortilloWhen existing family income supplement recipients were reassessed for family credit from 11 April 1988 a precise record was kept of the number awarded the new benefit. As expected, the vast majority of ex-family income supplement cases have become entitled to family credit.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to how many applicants for family credit have applied for this benefit because they are no longer eligible for income support.
§ Mr. PortilloI regret that this information is not available. Supplementary benefit recipients who were not eligible for income support because they were working 24 hours a week or more, and who had dependent children, were sent a claim form for family credit, but it is not known how many of them have actually made a claim.