Family Benefit (Hansard, 18 January 1994)

§ Mr. Burt

Take-up figures for family credit are not available on a regional basis. The latest estimates for take-up of family credit for Great Britain for 1991 are that 64 per cent of families eligible to receive the benefit were claiming it, and that 71 per cent of available benefit was being claimed.¹As at 24 December 1993, 2,876 families in Doncaster were receiving family credit.

There have been family credit advertising campaigns every year since 1989 which have stimulated claims and increased awareness. Over this period, the case load has increased from 280,000 in 1989 to around half a million now. The 1993 campaign was aimed at helping the unemployed understand how in-work benefits could help them to return to work. We have introduced special fast track procedures for people just starting work which enable the vast majority of urgent claims to family credit to be cleared, and payment issued, within one week. These special arrangements, in both employment and DSS local offices, help with completing the claim form and ensure that people starting work are aware of family credit. The family credit helpline, launched in April 1993, receives over 30,000 calls a week.

A continuing aspect of family credit awareness is the personalised message in the child benefit order book—or notification of automatic credit transfer payment—which tells the family concerned how much income they can have and still be eligible for family credit. A further stimulus to take-up of small amounts is the introduction from October 1993 of lump sum awards of family credit for awards of £4 a week or less. This provides one-off payments of up to £104, encouraging more people to claim and helping with back-to-work expenses.

Note:

¹ "Families, Work and Benefits"—Policy Studies Institute, June 1993.

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