§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all the changes to(a) national insurance benefits and (b) means-tested benefits since 1987, with (i) numbers affected, (ii) additional expenditure, (iii) additional savings and (iv) net cost of each change.
§ Mr. ScottIt is not possible to collate simply, and on a common basis in the way requested, the effects of a complex succession of interacting benefit changes. In particular the introduction of income support, family credit and the new housing benefit scheme was a major structural reform and the effect of these changes cannot be simply stated: information about the structural effects was provided by the illustrative figures published in the booklet "Impact of the reformed structure of income-related benefits", a copy of which is in the Library. Other details of these and other major benefit changes are published in the public expenditure White Papers for the relevant years.