HC Deb 06 March 1989 vol 148 cc447-8W
32. Mr. Frank Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, if he will make a statement on the disregard rules for single-parent families.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

To help those lone parents who choose to work, £15 of a lone parent's net weekly earnings is disregarded in calculating their entitlement to income support and housing benefit. Under family credit lone parents are entitled to the same credit as couples and their

I regret that information about the number of claimants in receipt of each premium within specified categories is not yet available.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest figure for the full annual amount paid in income support to residents of private residential homes within the Wakefield metropolitan district.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I regret that the information requested is not routinely collected and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central,Official Report, 1 February, column 293, he will (a) rework the data for 1979, 1980, 1981 in terms of 1982 regions, (b) present a table showing claimants in each 1982 social security region from 1979 to 1988, provisional taking 1982 as the base year.

Mr Peter Lloyd

[holding answer 14 February 1989]: The information is as follows:

one-parent benefit is wholly disregarded. We shall continue to monitor the benefit system and the incentives and disincentives to independence that it provides.