§ Ms ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many 16 and 17-year-olds for each month since January 1992 have made applications for income support on grounds of extreme hardship by region and for Great Britain as a whole, shown separately for male and female; how many have been granted or refused; what information he has about the grounds on which applications were turned down; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BurtI refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 21 May 1992 at columns 238–9 and on 30 October 1992 at columns 923–4. Such information as is available about claims after September 1992 is in the tables. Some people will have made more than one claim.
Scotland Total Successful Refused 1992 October 2,083 1,631 452 November 2,004 1,547 457 December 1,618 1,234 384 1993 January 2,459 2,037 422 February 2,343 1,870 473 March 2,687 2,172 515 April 2,957 2,491 466 May 2,531 2,140 391 June 2,490 2,095 395
North Eastern Total Successful Refused 1992 October 1,468 1,133 335 November 1,306 993 313 December 1,137 907 230 1993 January 1,944 1,638 306 February 1,731 1,408 323 March 2,064 1,709 355 April 1,894 1,622 272 May 1,838 1,576 262 June 1,876 1,626 250
North Western Total Successful Refused 1992 October 1,272 1,018 254 November 1,214 943 271 December 1,102 874 228 1993 January 1,800 1,536 264 February 1,740 1,403 337 March 1,948 1,632 316 April 1,859 1,593 266 May 1,893 1,605 288 June 1,902 1,633 269
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Midlands Total Successful Refused 1992 October 1,180 961 219 November 1,167 905 262
Total Successful Refused December 926 727 199 1993 January 1,800 1,503 297 February 1,512 1,207 305 March 1,701 1,416 285 April 1,605 1,393 212 May 1,553 1,310 243 June 1,627 1,404 223
Wales and South Western Total Successful Refused 1992 October 1,104 930 174 November 1,006 805 201 December 852 688 164 1993 January 1,657 1,443 214 February 1,384 1,145 239 March 1,642 1,372 270 April 1,498 1,282 216 May 1,406 1,216 190 June 1,409 1,211 198
London North Total Successful Refused 1992 October 1,091 895 196 November 998 813 185 December 745 621 124 1993 January 1,498 1,326 172 February 1,247 1,049 198 March 1,469 1,282 187 April 1,332 1,169 163 May 1,294 1,114 180 June 1,293 1,130 163
London South Total Successful Refused 1992 October 1,056 848 208 November 972 776 196 December 800 662 138 1993 January 1,483 1,310 173 February 1,348 1,120 228 March 1,474 1,257 217 April 1,376 1,209 167 May 1,330 1,140 190 June 1,336 1,139 197
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Great Britain Total Successful Refused 1992 October 9,256 7,418 1,838 November 8,668 6,783 1,885 December 7,183 5,716 1,467 1993 January 12,647 10,797 1,850 February 11,305 9,202 2,103
Total Successful Refused March 12,985 10,840 2,145 April 12,521 10,759 1,762 May 11,845 10,101 1,744 June 11,933 10,238 1,695 Source: Severe Handship Claims Unit Database
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of state for social Security how many recipients of income support who have deductions for voluntary unemployment are also subject to other deductions; and what is the average amount per person of these deductions.
§ Mr. BurtThere are 1,000 recipients of income support whose benefit is reduced because of voluntary unemployment who also have other deductions. The average amount of these other deductions is £5.15 (£19.86 including the voluntary unemployment deduction).
Source: Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiry, May 1992.
Notes: Average amounts are correct to the nearest penny.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many overpayments of income support have been caused by a failure to report a reduction in interest rates.
§ Mr. BurtI understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total amount spent by local authorities in Wales on housing benefit in the last three available financial years.
§ Mr. Burt[pursuant to his reply, 19 July 1993, c. 73]: I am advised that the reply contained incorrect information. The correct information is:
£ million 1990–91 242 1991–92 306 1992–93 340 (excludes expenditure on community charge benefit).
Source: 1993 Departmental Report date.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants who receive the lower rate of income support for persons aged under 25 years and are living away from home also have deductions; and what is the average amount per person of these deductions.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many recipients of income support had reductions in their benefit(a) including and (b) excluding deductions for voluntary unemployment, but excluding payments of current mortgage interest in each year since 1989.
§ Mr. BurtThe information available is in the table.
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1989 1990 1991 1992 (a) Including voluntary unemployment reduction 629,000 613,000 715,000 1,000,000 (b) Excluding voluntary unemployment reduction 600,000 581,000 678,000 975,000 Source: Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiries, May 1989–1992.
Note:
1. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. The figures exclude cases with deductions solely for payment of current. mortgage interest and arrears.
3. Recipients with deductions for mortgage interest payments are included in the figures if they also have other deductions.
4. Recipients with the voluntary unemployment reduction may be included in (b) if they have other deductions.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants who receive the lower rate of income support for person aged under 25 years also have deductions; and what is the average amount per person of these deductions.
§ Mr. BurtThere are 85,000 recipients receiving the lower rate of income support for a person aged less than 25 years who have deductions from benefit. The average amount of the deductions is £4.85. The corresponding figures where benefit is also reduced because of voluntary unemployment are 98,000 and £6.13.
Source: Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiry, May 1992.
Notes:
1. The figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, average amounts are correct to the nearest penny.
2. Recipients with the lower rate of income support for those aged under 25 have been identified on the basis that they are under 25, single and without dependants, and do not therefore qualify for the higher rate of benefit.